


BoyfriendEdd

by ShroomyStar



Category: Ed Edd n Eddy
Genre: Bonding, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent, M/M, Manipulation, Mutual Attraction, Peer Pressure, Slow(ish) Burn, Slow(ish) build, Versatile!Kevin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-07-15 08:28:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 36,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16059344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShroomyStar/pseuds/ShroomyStar
Summary: Kevin works to get out of a toxic relationship with the help of his friends, particularly a certain dork.  However, when Edd’s own relationship falls into ruin, Kevin is determined to see Edd through it.  Using their shared experiences, the two end up bonding and becoming far better friends.  Maybe even more.





	1. Monday Drivers Man...

**Author's Note:**

> Additional tags for this story will be added as necessary, from chapter to chapter.  
> I will update as much as I can, usually about once a week if possible. If I can sneak an extra chapter in throughout the week(s) though, I will.

The ride home was going a little too fast for his liking.

His previous destination was normally about an hour’s drive away but he had the misfortune of picking the one Monday morning of congestion-free traffic and the driving stylings of one of the fasted people he’d ever had the ‘pleasure’ of riding home with.

He looked at the dash board. It was almost six o’clock. He gave a sparring glance at the blue haired young man driving the truck who was forced begrudgingly into slowing down behind a compact car that had him cursing in his native language.

Kevin was just happy that Rolf had actually learned to drive and hadn’t attempted to give him a ride on Wilfred. Not that he would have minded if push came to shove: he just wanted to get the hell away from where he had been.

Blinking the thoughts threatening to resurface away, Kevin took the moment instead to picture himself hanging on for dear life to Rolf while the pair careened down the street on that now old yet oddly healthy pig and snorted lightly.

Rolf gave him a quizzical glance but the redhead simply shook his head indicating it was nothing important before looking back out of the open passenger window. He proceeded to lean out of it, resting his head on his elbow propped arm as the cool air hit his face.

The pair, for the most part, had driven in silence. Naturally, he’d greeted Rolf when the former offered him a ride home and had given him pleasantry responses to how he was doing. Sure, he lied while giving said responses, but the less questions asked of him right now, the better.

After that, Rolf attempted to make small talk but gave up almost immediately after Kevin made it clear he was in no mood for conversation, with the few times he bothered to respond being curt, evasive answers at best.

He could tell his old friend was concerned but thankfully, was choosing not to pry. Not that he would have volunteered any information to him if he had. It wasn’t that he didn't trust Rolf, it was just that he wasn’t the type of person he would want to share most of his more...sensitive issues with. Especially not the type he was dealing with right now.

His head perked up as he saw the familiar entry to the Park ‘n Flush trailer park in the distance, realizing as he looked to his left that they were only a few minutes away from their shared cul de sac.

He sighed. Only minutes away from having to face the wrath of his parents.

‘ _How the hell did he manage to beat the rush hour traffic?’_ He inwardly groaned as he straightened up a bit in his seat, trying to keep his trademark aloof coolness intact to hide his irritation with getting home so quickly. _‘Why the hell does he gotta drive so fucking fast all the time anyway? I should have kept walkin.’_

He could see Rolf glance at him from his peripheral and with another inward groan, his expression softened as he finally cleared his throat and addressed him properly.

“Hey man, thanks again for pickin me up.” He stated earnestly, attempting a half smile of gratitude.

Rolf cut him another quick glance again before returning his eyes to the road and giving a small nod with a smile.

“It is perfectly fine, Kevin!” He exclaimed loud enough to make Kevin wince. “The son of a Shepard is up long before the call of his rooster, so you were not disturbing Rolf!”

As the car slowed to a stop at the light, he gave Kevin a suspicious look. “Why did you not ride on your motorcycle? Or get your mate to bring you back from whence you came? Or call for the bouncy go-go Nazz girl?”

Kevin gave him a subtle shoulder shrug.

“Workin on it again, customizing some junk. Logan,” he paused to swallow the lump of unease he felt at just the mention of his name, hoping Rolf was too busy driving to catch his discomfort.

“It was his birthday this weekend, so I didn’t want to bother him with giving me a ride.”

Not a complete lie.

“Nazz is probably still asleep, man. I didn’t wanna bother her.”

Also, not a complete lie.

Then he frowned a little at the thought. “Plus, I don’t feel like listenin to her fuss. She’d nag me the whole ride home about shit.”

Definitely not a lie.

Rolf snorted a laugh and nodded in understanding. “She worries for your safety good. You have shown to be reckless, yes?”

Kevin pondered his words a moment then gave a begrudging grunt. “You could say that, yeah. She can be like a mom though. So annoying.”

“Perhaps you could complete the seven days trial of manhood, to show her your maturity from that of a stale piece of white bread into a fresh piece of toast-hood!” Rolf exclaimed with excitement. “I can get the ostrich feathers, battle stick, Edboy can help me lift the—"

“That’s okay dude, I’m fine!” Kevin exclaimed quickly, putting his hands up. The last time he had done one of Rolf’s home country rituals, he’d almost broken his ankle and was knocked out. Twice.

He leaned back as far as he could in the seat before fighting back a wince of pain, not wanting to draw Rolf’s attention before he carefully leaned to sit more on his side as he had been. “I’ll just grow some chest hair or somethin.”

Rolf gave him a hardy laugh and slapped his steering wheel. “Your chest is as smooth as a baby’s bottom! You will grow no chest hair there!”

Kevin pulled at the collar of his lime green shirt, ignoring the fact that it may be on backwards and stared down at his hairless chest. He jutted out his bottom lip grumpily and slumping even further down on the seat, letting his bottom hang completely off of it.

“Whatever dude. I could grow it there if I wanted.”

Rolf only continued to laugh as the light finally turned green and he drove along, the laughter quietening down as they finally pulled up to the curb in front of the redhead’s home.

“See you later! I must finish attending to my morning chores!” Rolf announced as Kevin exited the truck, shutting the door gently.

He grunted a goodbye and watched as Rolf drove further down the cul de sac to his own destination.

Kevin turned to face his silent home, eyes instantly locking on the gray sports truck that sat in the driveway before slipping past it and pressing his face against the clear panel window of their garage door to peer inside. Next to his motorcycle and the box of tools he was using to work on it sat his mom’s cherry red compact car.

 _‘Fuck! I forgot Mom was home today and Dad hasn’t gone to work yet!’_ Kevin panicked as he bit his bottom lip in agitation. His brows furrowed as he backed up on to his lawn and once again glared at the dark, quiet home.

He leaned his head back and let out a long sigh. He could attempt to sneak in now but knowing them, his parents were probably waiting on him in the living room.

_‘Probably sittin in the dark and watchin the front door to swing open. Dad waiting to bitch at me while Ma pounces on me with a bunch of questions I got no answers for right now.’_

He shook his head. No way he was going in just yet.

He needed some sleep, time to think some things through, and a chance to forget about this nagging dread that had kept his stomach in knots for the past several hours.

He looked over at the porch, the cushioned patio chairs beckoning him to stretch out and lay down. He sighed. He couldn’t risk it; there was a good chance he could set of the sensory lights. They were bright enough to light up almost his entire living room and a portion of his parent’s room on the second floor, if by some miracle they actually were still asleep. That’d get their attention for sure.

Kicking up a little dirt, he resigned himself to crouching down on his front lawn as carefully as he could before easing himself down to lay on to his side, stretching out.

He inhaled the scent of the freshly cut grass around him, giving a content hum as the cool, dew misted blades soothed a few of his aches and pains. He laid there peacefully for a few minutes, forgetting about his pressing problems as he let himself relax and closed his eyes briefly before the sound of a front door slamming shut startled him.

He winced in pain and instantly grabbed for his lower back as he looked to ensure the sound didn’t come from his own home before noticing one of his neighbors getting into their van and pulling off down the street.

 _‘Asshole.’_ He thought irrationally as he glared after the hulking vehicle as it turned out of the cul de sac before looking over his quiet neighborhood, thinking of what he could possibly do next.

_‘Maybe I should just go inside. Face em and just tell em the truth. About everything. Even Logan.’_

He snorted at the absurdity of the thought as if he’d told himself a pretty funny joke.

_‘Yeah, hell no. I’m already gonna get it just for not coming home when I was supposed to and screenin their calls. No way they’ll understand or wanna listen about any of the rest of it.’_

He felt a rush of conflicting emotions as his thoughts slowly returned to Logan, the elder boy with the scruffy mess of curly brunette hair and paralyzingly intense hazel eyes. His warm, deep voice and addictively charming smile that always seemed to draw Kevin in. Then flashes of the weekend spent with him flashed through his mind and he instantly tried to push the frat boy back out of his thoughts.

He hated being in this kind of emotional distress. Though he could have passionate outbursts, he was never one to like to sit around and talk about his feelings, save with maybe a couple people in his life, as it made him feel vulnerable.

And he hated feeling vulnerable.

He pinched off a blade of grass and twirled it between his fingers, his thoughts still troubled despite his best efforts to close them off.

_‘Still can't remember what happened later at the party.’_

Kevin let the blade of grass drop, catching the sight of his wrist out of the corner of his eye as he did.

He looked down, twisting his arms slowly to inspect them.

The darker bruises were gone thankfully but they were still sore and red with mild irritation. Little half-moon cuts were scattered over the area, mostly around the back of his hands.

He began rubbing them instinctively, trying not to dwell too hard on how the markings got there but failing completely as he tried to remember everything he could about Saturday night and that birthday party, concentrating heavily.

He was startled out of his thoughts when he heard his elderly next-door neighbor’s sprinkler system start up.

_‘Must be six fifteen.’_

He pulled out his cellphone to check the time. _‘Yep.’_

He studied the list of notifications underneath the digital clock. Tons of missed calls. Mostly from his parents, but no surprises there. One missed call and two text from Logan. He frowned. He hadn’t even been away from him that long.

**[Hey. Call me when you get this.]**

**[I mean it. Ya ran off and I wanna know why. We need to talk. You better call me or I’m comin over. I love ya and just wanna make sure we’re okay, Red.]**

Another flurry of emotions stirred within him as he reread the messages, mostly anger and resentment.

 _‘He knows he can’t come over while my folks are here, fuckin ass!’_ he sneered as he glared at the illuminated screen. _‘He wanted to talk, he should’ve a done it while I was still there!’_

He reread the message a third, then a fourth time as he allowed his anger to simmering down before texting him back a message of his own.

**[Hey man. Let me get some rest and I’ll call ya after. We def need to talk.]**

He hesitated to send the message for a moment before he quickly typed his own affection of love and pushed send. He felt a pang of guilt for hesitating the gesture, his thoughts conflicted again.

_‘I know he gives a shit but this all just feels weird.’ He sighed. ‘Can’t keep thinking about him right now and I sure as hell not gonna sit out here all mornin. Gotta get my shit together so I can face my parents.’_

Pushing himself, he ignored the protests and aches of his body as he got to his feet. He looked back at his home and felt his heart drop to his stomach as he saw what he knew to be the kitchen light flick on.

Tucking his phone back into his pocket, he proceeded to leave his front yard, once again combing over the Cul de Sac as he looked for a place he could lay low for the next couple of hours.

 _‘Mom’s probably up makin coffee.’_ He thought as he glanced back at the home then ducked behind his next-door neighbor’s bush to hide out of any line of sight should anyone peak out of the kitchen window. 

He walked forward a short distance, going nowhere in particular as he weighed his options.

_‘Rolf is out, he just dropped me off and would start asking questions I’d have to answer this time. Ed is...not gonna be helpful and Sarah has a big mouth. Jimmy would tell Sarah, so same problem. I ain’t listening to Johnny yammer on about Plank. Fuck Eddy. Ain’t desperate enough to go see the Kankers, plus Marie would just call—’_

He paused in his steps as realization dawned on him and yanking his cell back out, he scrolled to see the last of his missed calls in his notifications.

Nazz. They were all from Nazz, with one mystery number he didn’t recognize but was certain had been her attempt to see if he would pick up if she tried from a different number.

He felt the butterflies torturing his stomach twist and knot into concern. She hadn’t called him in a while. Almost a month. Though that had certainly been all his fault.

He shook his head. _‘Can’t dwell on that now either. I could...maybe I should go over.’_

He licked his lips nervously as he lifted his hat and ran a hand through his hair before returning it snuggly to his head. _‘We could talk finally. Then I could have someone I could tell...’_

No.

That would just make everything worse and he knew it.

Things were already shaky and he had no idea where he stood with Logan. He wasn’t even sure he wanted a standing with him right now but if they managed to work things out, well then, reuniting with Nazz and spilling out all of his problems to her would be out of the question.

He felt those butterflies turn into tighter knots as he began pacing a little in place.

She had been trying to reach him since yesterday morning. If she was calling him so much, it had to be important. Especially after everything that’d happened between them.

He couldn’t avoid her forever. He shouldn’t. He at least owed her that much.

Taking a few more moments to think about everything, Kevin took in a shaky breath and his feet started moving on his own towards a familiar home across the street towards one of the ends of the cul de sac.

 _‘I need time to think. I gotta get some rest man. Sleep, relax, just be able to fucking think about what the hell I should do about all this.’_  
  
He paused for a brief moment before with a swallow of his nerves, he rang the doorbell.

There was a quick shuffling of movement inside the otherwise quiet home and the front door swung open.

Their eyes met and Kevin felt a creep of embarrassment flush his face as he adverted his eyes to his feet, ignoring how startled and surprised the home’s occupant seemed to be as he was looked over.

“Uh, hey.” He began in a shaky, vulnerable tone he would absolutely loath hearing coming out of himself at any other time, especially to the person gawking at him right now.

He couldn’t be bothered with that though. In truth, as much as he wanted and had tried to ignore it, he was vulnerable and more to the point was just too tired to pretend to care if it showed anymore.

“Can I crash here for a while?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please excuse any grammatical or spelling errors. I hope you've enjoyed the story thus far, feel free to leave any feedback. Until next time.


	2. We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Ed

The day started off relatively normal for Edd.

Adhering to his schedule, the young man was awake no later than 5:15 a.m. on the dot.

He showered, dressed, immediately checked over his homework to ensure it’s completion and accuracy, then straightened up his room.

He would tidy up the living room if applicable (it was always applicable) before heading into the kitchen to read his parents various instructions for the day before partaking in his breakfast.

It was what he found himself doing now, staring at the assortment of freshly hung sticky notes that littered the refrigerator.

Humming to himself lightly, he read the usual instructions left for him to accomplish throughout the day with a touch of apathy.

His interest only peeked when he came across the final several leaflets, peach in color instead of the usual yellow of all the others.

**[Eddward,**

**We are elated to inform you that we will be taking off for one week from our employ in the coming month.**

**Please clear your schedule and any plans you may have made, as we wish to spend that time with you. We will inform you of the further details once we draw closer to our vacation date.**

**While we regrettably will miss your awards ceremony for the junior year of your high school career, know that we are no doubt proud of your constant hard work and outstanding academic achievements.**

**Congratulations on advancing to your senior year. We are quite proud of you.**

**Love,**

**Your Mother and Father]**

Edd read and reread the small square leaflets, his smile widening into a wide gap toothed grin as a wave of jubilation coursed through him.

_‘Finally! My beloved mother and father will be arriving soon to spend a duration of the summer with me!’_

He opened the refrigerator to grab the prepared grapefruit slices and a carton of extra pulpy orange juice, sitting both on the counter as he went to retrieve a glass from the kitchen cabinet.

_‘Perhaps I can finally show them my vehicular permit and persuade them to allow myself a mode of transportation!’_

He poured the juice exactly three inches from the rim before a stray thought entered his mind.

_‘If they actually abide by their word. It would not be unheard of for my parents to allow their places of employ to once again interfere with their vacation plans.'_

His mood soured tremendously as he paused, remembering the various times his parents had stated they would be willing to spend prolonged amounts of time with him, only to cancel at the very last minute.

Sometimes even on the same day in question.

With a bitter sigh, Edd continued his scheduled routine of the morning, replacing the juice before going to the pantry to grab a box a corned brand flakes.

He gave a mirthless laugh as he began to joke to himself darkly, pouring the recommended serving amount.

“Look at the silver lining Eddward! The crippling disappointment of your parental abandonment does tend to follow the reading of their various notes!” He mocked in a chipper tone as he closed and returned the box to the pantry. He grabbed the carton of milk from the fridge and slammed the door shut a little rougher than he meant to. “So at least you haven’t afforded too much energy in believing in the delusions of their effort to actually make time for you!”

Mumbling more incoherent banter to himself angrily, he poured the milk, replaced it to it’s rightful place before retiring to the kitchen counter and beginning his breakfast, standing.

Two minutes later, his cell phone rang and he glanced down at his watch.

6:25 a.m. Right on schedule.

Taking the device from his pocket, as he swallowed down a bit of his breakfast, he answered.

“Salutations Marie!” He greeted her expectantly.

“Hey D,” she mumbled barely audible before yawning. “You need a lift today?”

“If it will be no trouble,” Edd responded gratefully. “Eddy is still unavailable and Jay has once again declined to take a moment out of his creative writing process to afford me a mode of transportation. So I would appreciate the ride this morning.”

Another yawn.

“Yeah, alright. Let me do my thing, and I’ll pick you up in like,” there was pause and he was certain she was looking at a clock. “twenty to thirty minutes. Be ready by then.”

“As always!” He responded, already thinking of a little extra tidying he could do around his domicile, as she would assuredly be late by an extra seven minutes.

“Alright then I’ll—May, get the hell off my bed with that bull crap!—see ya then! I said, get off my bed, chump-stain!”

He heard a thump and laughter as her line clicked and with an amused chuckle, hung up on his end, setting the phone back in his pocket to concentrate on his meal.

He only managed to get down a couple more spoonfuls of food before he heard the sound of his doorbell go off, his ear perking up a bit.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he looked up at the clock on the wall, then the watch on his wrist just to be sure.

6:32 a.m. _‘Who in the world would be disturbing me at such an early hour, unanticipated?’_

Taking a quick sip of his orange juice, he got to his feet and went to answer the door as the doorbell was rung again.

_‘It most certainly would not be Eddy as he would be hard pressed to be up this early, even without his academic probation.'_

He heard it ring a third time, increasing his walking speed due to the apparent urgency of his guest.

_‘Ed is incapacitated with a particularly nasty virus, I just spoke with Marie, and Jason informed me that he is too ‘creatively indisposed’ to enjoy my company for the time being.’_

He frowned as he reached out for the door knob, hesitating. _‘Caution Eddward. Perhaps a peak through the curtain to see whom this could possible be?’_

He quickly shuffled into his living room and peaked out the window, almost double taking at whom he believed to be standing there.

_‘Well that most certainly can’t be right!’_

He quickly made his way back over to his front door, reflexively smoothing his vest before finally cracking it open with caution and peaking out of the sliver of an opening.

_‘Dear me, it **is** him!’_

He quickly opened the door wider and gawked in startled awe at the teen standing before him.

The only thing more surprising than Kevin Barr standing on his porch at this moment was how he appeared.

Which, if Edd was to be frank, looked dreadful.

He looked uncharacteristically disheveled, his hat was on askew with stray strands of hair sticking out from all sides. His attire was filthy and unpressed, particularly his jeans.  _‘Is he aware that his shirt is on backwards and inside out?’_ Edd wondered in bewilderment as he looked the jock up and down, focusing on his shoes and seeing a sliver of bare skin between them and his jeans.  ' _Does he normal forget to wear his socks?’_

His eyes quickly ascended to study his face, his bewildered expression turning into a concerned frown that only deepened with each new detail he took in.  His usually bright eyes were dull with weariness and red with irritation, small bags already beginning to form underneath them.  His normally full lips seemed thinner and dry, cracking in some places. His nose was flared just slightly and his freckles were more pronounced.  And that expression. Edd has never seen Kevin look so downtrodden and out of sorts. If he didn’t know better, he would think that he may be...

Kevin’s eyes locked with his momentarily before he quickly looked down at at his feet, nervously shifting around on the worn ‘Welcome’ mat.

“Uh, Hey,” Kevin began in a fashion that cemented Edd’s current train of thought.

_‘Vulnerable. He is clearly in an state of vulnerability.’_

“Can I crash here for a while?”

Edd’s face looked blank as he ran that last sentence spoken in his mind several times in rapid succession, unsure of exactly how to answer.  _‘Kevin wants to stay here? Now? Before my departure to our educational institution?’_ Panic and anxiety began to set in as he weighed Kevin’s words in.  _‘Whatever shall I do? He looks as though he has been in some form of altercation and it certainly would not do to leave a causal acquaintance in need.’_

Edd leaned on his front door, clearly looking in troubled thought as Kevin gave him an upward glance before sighing and jamming both hands in his jean pockets.

“Look, it’s okay, I’ll just go.” He replied sounding defeated and before he could process his own actions, the lankier teen reached over the threshold and grabbed a hold of Kevin’s upper arm, startling them both.

“No, please!” He began in a hurried fashion, pulling Kevin forward a little as the redhead watched in wide eyed confusion.

 _‘Get a hold of yourself, man!’_ He snapped to himself before softening his offending grip on his guest and with a calming breath, regained his composure.

“I-I apologize for making your inquiry to temporarily stay in my home awkward.” He began with an embarrassed gap toothed grin. “I was just surprised by your desire to do so in the first place.”

There was a heavy silence between the two of them as Kevin nodded in acknowledgment slowly, looking sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head with his free hand.

Edd caught the sight of something on or around Kevin’s wrist and filed the thought away for the many impending questions he intended to ask of his neighbor at a later time.

“Yeah, about that,” Kevin began. “I kinda can’t go home and I really needed a place where I figured I would be safe, ya know?”

He looked a little defeated and Edd felt a pang of sympathy as Kevin broke eye contact long enough to lick his lips and take a shaky breath in what he assumed was the elder teen’s attempt to keep his bearings.

_‘It must be hard for him to ask me of this favor.’_

“Look, I don’t mean to be a bother. I just figured you would be willing to help me.” Kevin admitted before looking like he wanted hit himself and groaning.

“Man, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t of just assumed you would do that! I dunno why I did! I just, I don’t wanna go anywhere else right now!”

Their eyes locked into each other again and Edd’s concern and curiosity deepened as he caught the flicker of desperation within them.

_‘He wants to come here because he felt he would be safer with me than going elsewhere. Including his own home. Or to Nazz’s domicile.’_

Pulling gently on the arm he subconsciously realized he’d still been holding on to all this time, Edd moved to the side and swept a hand across the threshold, gesturing for Kevin to come into his home.

‘I’m not sure whether to be flattered that he would think enough of me that I am considered the best course of option in what ever predicament he is in; or generally more concerned that of all the people Kevin would consider important to him, I was his only option of choice.’

The pair stepped into the foyer, Edd continuing to guide his troubled guest into his home as he shut the door behind them with his foot.

“Please Kevin. Welcome to my humble abode! I must ask that you please remove your shoes here and leave them along the wall next to the front door.” He instructed politely as he finally released him and stepped further into the entryway.

He thought about Kevin’s bare feet and added “Would you like a pair of slippers? A pair of socks perhaps? While their is carpeting throughout my home, I must insist that you wear something against your bare feet in the hopes of starving off any foreign bacteria.”

Kevin stared at him for a moment before a light smile and amused snort left him.

“Whatever you have that’ll fit my clown feet. I ain’t picky.”

Edd smiled and with a nod, went to retrieve the supplies he knew he’d need. “Please make yourself at home! You are free to take a seat in my living room until my return, however refrain from putting your feet on the coffee table or on the arms of the couch.”

The redhead nodded wearily as Edd disappeared further down into the hallway and going upstairs into his room, fetched a pair of large cotton socks from a drawer labeled ‘Guest Socks’.

 _‘Let’s see: he seems to have some form of abrasions along his wrists and possibly other unknown areas.’_ Edd calculated to himself as he moved into the nearest bathroom next.

Opening the small closet, he retrieved one of many First Aid kits before going over to the medicine cabinet and grabbing a bottle of both aspirin and Ibuprofen.

_‘In case he has a preference of one over the other.’_

He then went back downstairs and into his kitchen, pausing to stare at the abandoned breakfast and making a note to clean his mess soon before he placed the few items he was carrying on the countertop.

Going to a cabinet, he grabbed another glass and filled it halfway with ice before going to the refrigerator and grabbing a bottle of water, juice, and a can of soda.

_‘He may be hungry, I’ll have to ask him.’_

He looked at his fruit bowl and decided to grab a single green apple and an orange before going to his pantry and grabbing a pack of crackers.

_‘It’s light, but it will be a good start while he waits should I need to prepare a more fulfilling meal.’_

He placed the assortment of items on a tray, satisfied with his offerings before making his way back into his living room.

Kevin was leaning over to one end of his couch on his side, his arms folded underneath his head, both resting on the arm of the furniture haphazardly as he used one of the throw pillows to elevate himself just a tad.

When the redhead noticed that he had company, he attempted to sit up straight, only to let out a sharp yelp in pain and fall back onto his side in agony, face flushed.

“Kevin! Allow me to assist you!” Edd cried as he quickly placed the tray on the wooden coffee table before easing the wincing teen into what he hoped was a more comfortable position.

“I-it’s okay, Double D.” Kevin insisted through clinched teeth as he still looked to be in agony and now slightly embarrassed. “It’s just a cramp.”

“I do not appreciate the attempt to insult my intelligence this early in the morning.” Edd announced unconvinced as he continued to guide Kevin onto his side and, as he noted, off of his back and rear end.

Kevin grumbled something inaudible in misery and Edd cast him a chastising side glance as he reached for the tray.

“I’ll let that bit of back sass slide for the moment.” He teased lightly and Kevin shot him a side glance of his own, his lip jutting out in a grumpy pout of sorts.

 _‘It’s oddly adorable. Seeing him like this.’_ He blinked at his thought. _‘Well most certainly not in pain like this, no, just pouting and in need. I can’t recall a time I have ever seen Kevin so vulnerable. Perhaps the time he was afraid of getting that booster shot in our youth?’_

He took a seat on the edge of the cushion closest to Kevin in a deliberately slow fashion, watching for any signs of his presence causing discomfort.

Satisfied, he leaned forward towards the tray and reached for the pair of socks, holding them out toward his guest.  “I have brought the supplies I hope will aid you in your convalescences.” Edd began in a polite but frank manner. Kevin nodded lightly in understanding as he once again attempted to sit up.

One clench of his teeth in pain and Edd was forcing him back into his laying position with his elbow, kicking himself for thinking that Kevin would be able to perform such a feat in his current condition.  “Please refrain from any activities that would exacerbate your current injuries further.” Edd instructed as he sat the socks back on the tray.

He removed himself from the couch and knelt in front of Kevin, positive this would make it easier for his guest to take the various items he would be offering without him having to move too much.

He held up the two bottles of medications and Kevin pointed to the Tylenol. With a nod, Edd took out two pills and handed them to him before gesturing toward the three beverage offerings.

“What would you like to drink?”

“Water.”

With a nod, he poured half of the bottle into the glass before holding it out for him to take.

He watched as Kevin popped the pills into his mouth then slowly inched up just enough before gratefully taking the cold glass from him, swallowing its contents rapidly.

While this was occurring, Edd fixated on Kevin’s neck, taking note of the discoloration predominantly on the right hand side.

He fought back the urge to blush.

_‘Those appear to be love markings.’_

Once finished, Kevin handed him the glass back before leaning to get comfortable again.

“Would you like me to fix you anything to eat?” Edd offered, gesturing back towards the tray. “I have fruits and crackers in the meantime if you’d like.”

“No man, you don’t have to do all that. I’ll just take the orange.” Kevin responded.

Edd picked up the fruit and began to peel it, pausing only when Kevin reached forward and grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Uh, whatta doin?”

“Peeling the fruit for your consumption.” Edd replied, unsure of what the issue was.

“I can do it myself.” Kevin responded grumpily, clearly not wanting to be babied as he gently took the partially peeled fruit from Edd. “I’m just a little banged up, not paralyzed.”

“Be that as it may, you are clearly in no condition to do anything strenuous.” Edd insisted as he opened the First Aid kit and took out a thin pair of latex gloves before placing them on his hands.

He unfurled the pair of socks before taking out a can of spray and applying a light mist to them generously.

 _‘This should be enough in the event of a fungal infection.’_ He smiled to himself, pleased.

Ignoring Kevin’s sudden protest and half-hearted squirms to move his feet out of the way, he placed the pair on his awaiting cold feet, taking note of the inflamed markings and bruises along his ankles.

“Dude! Knock it off! I’m not a baby, I could’ve done that!” Kevin insisted looking at the raven haired teen. Edd ignored him for the moment, holding out his hand instead to take the orange peels away from him, placing them on the tray once Kevin finally complied.

“You said that you came to my home because you knew that I would be willing to take care of you,” Edd insisted going back into the First Aid kit to get various sprays and solutions to apply to all those bruises and lacerations he’d been taking a note of. “I intend to fulfill that expectation.”

“I said I wanted a place to crash where I could be safe!” Kevin exclaimed puzzled. “I didn’t need you to be my nurse or want you to put yourself out for me like this, man! You don’t owe it me.”

It was Edd’s turn to stare at him curiously.

“I apologize for overstepping any boundaries. However, I can not just ignore the clear signs of your distress while you simply rest for a few hours.”

He held up the light role of wrapping, debating whether or not to use it and nodding, placed it in his lap before looking for a few patches of gaze.

“Especially with your sudden, unforeseen abject arrival so early this morning.” Edd finished, satisfied he had every supply he needed before standing to stretch his legs a little, ensuring they wouldn’t lock up.

Then he squatted back down and gave Kevin his most comforting, persuasive smile he had as he held out one of his hands towards him.

“May I please exam your wrists?”

Kevin looked taken aback then instantly cast his eyes down in discomfort, reflexively rubbing one of them while simultaneously attempting to hide them in his shirt.

“They’ll be fine.” He responded in a low, dejected way as he subconsciously tried to shift away from Edd. “Just leave em alone, I can fix it once I get home.”

The dark haired teen frowned as he reached up to fidget with the hem of his favorite black and white stripped knit cap.

_‘There must be a method I can use to persuade Kevin into letting me attend to his various wounds. Perhaps alleviating any lingering distrust or perceived malcontent he may have on the subject of my aiding him.’_

He cleared his throat.

“Kevin,” he began in a soft and caring tone, hoping his good intentions were evident on his face.

“I understand that you may have reservations about opening up to me over...whatever may have transpired to you recently. It is clear this is a subject you do not wish to address at this time and to be perfectly honest, we are not as particularly close as we could be for you to do so.”

He bit his bottom lip, choosing how to formulate his next words before feeling comfortable enough to continue.

“I can only assure you that despite only being childhood acquaintances at best, it is more than enough for me to care about your well being.”

A small smile of flattery crossed his face. “It was enough for you to trust in my apparent abilities to offer you a safe haven for the required amount of time you needed rest. Please let it be enough so that I may aid you in any other way you may need, directly.”

Kevin stared at him for a time, clearly conflicted as he seemed to debate with himself.

Edd watched with mild apprehension as he twiddled his thumbs around nervously, letting the light sound of the latex rubbing together sooth his nerves.

Finally, with a humble bite to his bottom lip, Kevin slowly held out his arms in front of him.

Edd blinked, unable to hide the mild surprise before acting immediately, taking the pair of hands into his own.

He hummed quizzically to himself, inspecting them carefully. His eyebrows furrowed in interest and concern with each passing eye sweep of every bruise, cut, and abrasion.

 _‘Deep bruising with several small crescent moon shaped lacerations and a soreness to the touch.’_ He mused as he took note of Kevin attempts to hiss in pain under his breath in an effort not to be noticed.

_‘Clearly the work of hands holding them too tightly, along with whatever bindings that caused the light indention.’_

Coupled with the neck markings, an image of what may have occurred began to formulate in Edd’s mind and he instantly understood Kevin’s hesitation to be more forthcoming.

With a light clearing of his throat, he began to apply the various antiseptics sprays, bacterial, and antibiotic ointments to the infected area.

“Do you wish for me to take care of your ankles as well?” He asked as causally as he could, fighting back the urge to blush at the thought of, as his assumptions led him to assume, a previously bound Kevin.

The redhead sighed in defeat and gave a single shoulder shrug. “Might as well. You wanna look anywhere else there, mom?”

Edd arched a brow and gave him a pointed look as he pursed his lips together outwardly.

“As a matter of fact, I would.” He stated matter of factly. “If you keep insisting on such a jest, I will gladly perform a full cavity search on you to ensure that you reach one hundred percent rehabilitation.”

Kevin snorted in amusement and rolled his eyes as he smirked, seeming relieved by the lightened mood. “Didn’t think you could come with the snappy comebacks, dork.”

“Only when pressed, Kevin.” He insisted as he put the finishing touches on his second wrist, admiring his handy work before looking up at the bruising along the redhead’s jawline and upper neck.

“Erm,” he began nervously, adverting his gaze. “Would you like me to attempt to cover those up before you depart for your domicile later?”

Kevin stared in confusion before his eyes widened with realization and he slapped a hand over the markings, the swift movement causing him to once again hiss in discomfort.

“Kevin, careful!” Edd exclaimed in concern, hovering to see if he would need readjustment sitting. When Kevin’s pain looked to subside, Edd eased back, feeling a little guilty.

_‘Maybe I should not have brought them up.’_

“I did not mean to alarm or-”

“It’s cool man, don’t apologize.” Kevin stated flatly. “No. You don’t gotta worry about those. I think I can manage to hide em from my folks on my own.”

_‘Finally. An opening to my many inquiries.’_

“I see,” Edd began as he moved on to work on his ankles, just as he’d asked to do. “I take it this is why you did not wish to return home?”

Kevin let out a long sigh, his expression clearly annoyed at the line of questioning and Edd held a breath, waiting to see if he would answer.

“. . .Sorta,” he began looking uncomfortable before taking another steadying breath and continuing.

“I...messed up this weekend. My folks had no idea where I was or who I was with.”

He looked guilty as he continued. “I drank. A lot. Way more than I usually do. Then,” he frowned darkly. “I dunno.”

Edd stared at him puzzled.

“I take it you usually do not partake in heavy alcohol consumption?”

“Not to the point of blacking out drunk, no.”

_‘I see...’_

“Is there any particular reason you saw fit to change your usual drinking patterns over the weekend?” Edd pressed softly, frowning at the purple bruising before gently applying an aloe salve to the cleaned area.

“Logan.”

‘Logan. That name is certainly familiar.’

“Logan Sterling?”

“Yep.”

“Did he not graduate a few of years ago?”

“Yeah. He was a senior in our freshman year. Captain of the baseball team.”

“Oh yes, him.” Edd reminisced, his demeanor souring a bit. “I recall him beaming me in the face with a rogue ball during one of his practices by ‘accident’.”

Kevin looked instantly apologetic and Edd couldn’t help but be pleasantly surprised and touched.

“He can be a dick, sorry bout that.” Kevin responded and seemingly went to a dark place. “I guess a bigger one than even I thought.”

“I take it the two of you remained friends during his transition and integration into college life?” Edd asked curiously.

Kevin immediately adverted his gaze to the wall as he subtly inclined his chin.

“More like we started, uh, dating.”

Edd blinked. “Oh!”

_‘...Oooooh.’_

Kevin pursed his lips together before replying. “Yeah.”

There was an awkward moment of silence between the two before Edd finished up with his ankles. Finally, he pointed towards Kevin’s side. “May I check your back now? I couldn’t help but notice the severe discomfort you repeatedly display whenever you move in certain ways.”

“Yeah, go for it.” Kevin announced as he moved to lay on his stomach, pausing only once in discomfort.

“It’s mostly my lower back and shoulders.”

Edd nodded and carefully lifting his shirt, examined the area.

_‘Light freckles, a bit of inflammation and redness on the shoulders.’_

Then as he looked down his back, his eyes resting on the lower area right above his rear and the sides of his hips.

_‘Fingermark like bruising and discoloration along with mild inflammation and redness. Dear me, what did he do to you, Kevin?’_

As if hearing his internal question, Kevin final began to speak again.

“It was his birthday. It’s why I was drinkin so much. He wanted me to party hard with him, so, I did.”

Kevin buried his face in the throw pillow as Edd poked various areas of his back, muffling his groans of pain.

_‘I’m going to need a few lidocaine solutions or patches.’_

He stopped poking him, standing to his feet again stretching.

“I will need additional supplies to properly medicate your back. Please stay here until I return.” He called back as he already made his way towards the nearest bathroom, ignoring Kevin’s sarcastic question of where he would go to.

As he rummaged through the various supplies in his medical cabinet, his mind drifting to the redhead resting on his couch.

 _‘I would have never imagined someone like Kevin with someone like,’_ he frowned. _‘Logan. Despite their affinity for athletic pursuits and generally social standing, I would think given the growth Kevin has displayed over the years, he would surly have picked someone...better suited for him.’_

Finding a roll on liquid and a thin box of patches, Edd grabbed both and made his way back to the living room, pausing when his cellphone rang in his pocket.

_‘Oh dear! In the unexpected turmoil of the morning, I completely forgot all about Marie!’_

Shifting the items he was carrying into one hand, he quickly pulled his cell out and answered it.

“Where are you, D? Normally you’re standing outside waiting on me!” She teased.

“Salutations, Marie! I apologize and regret to inform you that I will not be partaking in our predetermined ride of the morning.” He announced quickly, completely apologetic.

“D, come on. The ‘El Busterio’ ain’t that bad and Lee needs the car this morning!” She huffed.

“Despite my many, many reservations to accompany you in the abomination you refer to as a ‘truck’ unless I absolutely have to, I must decline the offer.”

There was a pause. “What’s up, Double D.”

“A situation that I wish not to discuss has fallen upon my person and I will no longer be needing a lift to school,” he paused. “as I am not entirely sure when or if, I will be arriving today.”

The outcry was immediate and Marie asked too many questions, to fast for him to catch them all.

“I assure you, if I can, I will properly explain my tardiness or absence at a later time. I apologize for the inconvenience of your having to attempt to pick me up.” He responded.

Another pause.

“Okay D, but you better give me all, and I mean, all the deets when I get a hold of you!” She demanded, leaving no room for argument.

“Understood. Take care Marie. I shall see you later on today.”

“Later D. Oh! Know that you totally owe me ice cream for making me get up early for nothin!”

“I beg to differ! You called me to ask if I needed the transportation!” He argued.

“Yeah, but I could’ve gone back to sleep if I didn’t have to worry about takin you to school.” She rebutted easily then giggled mischievously as he sighed.

“We can discuss this later. I must go.”

“Alright, alright, get your tidy whites out of a bunch, D. Talk to you later.”

“Farewell.”

He hung up the phone and placed it back in his pocket as he reentered the living room, catching Kevin’s questioning eyes staring at him.

He smiled and held up the medication. “Lidocaine. For your shoulders and lower back.”

Kevin nodded and laid his head back down on the pillow as Edd took a seat next to him on the edge of the couch. He set down the contents in his hand before reaching over to grab a bottle of Witch-hazel.

“...You’re takin off from school today?” Kevin asked curiously, seeming far more relaxed than he had been, eyes semi closed as he yawned in exhaustion.

Edd nodded, wondering how much of the conversation had been heard. “I wish to ensure of your recovery as long as you are in my care.”

_‘Besides, I most certainly couldn’t leave you to your own devises in my home unsupervised. That would be ill advised.’_

Kevin gave a subtle nod.

“I really owe you, dork.”

He blushed as he sat down the bottle he previously had and picked up the roll on lidocaine, slowly rubbing a thin layer on Kevin’s left shoulder.

“You owe me absolutely nothing. As I expressed, our having an acquaintance was more than applicable enough for me to assist you.”

Kevin shook his head slowly. “No man, you have no idea how much you helped me out. You let me crash, fixed me up, and you’re even takin off of school. All to help me.”

Edd looked over to see Kevin’s face falter.

“All because I fucked up so bad.”

“Language.” Edd tsked as he sat down the roll and glanced down at Kevin’s lower back, admiring the lean muscle work before picking up the box of patches.

“Right, sorry.” Kevin murmured sleepily. “If I had just listened to Nazz the first time, I never would’ve been at that party.”

He paused to yawn.

“Never would have stopped talking to her in the first place.”

Edd watched as his eyes finally closed completely, a look of mild discomfort on his face as Edd’s fingers pressed into a sore patch of flesh.

He quickly corrected his mistake by brushing his fingers over the same area in a gentle circular motion, smiling as Kevin’s face softened into a look of contentment.

Kevin’s eyes fluttered open momentarily as he appeared to be fighting the want to sleep.

“Never...would have kept dating...that asshole.” He gave a lingering lazy smile. “Sorry dork, I know. Language.”

With that, Kevin seemed to finally drift into sleep.

Edd watched him for a few minutes longer, still rubbing small circles in his back as he felt his steady and peaceful breathing.

He replayed Kevin’s last few words in his head, thinking of the bubbly blond that lived a little further into their culture de sac.

_‘So this is why Kevin refrained from seeking her aid. They are still on unfavorable terms, even now. I wonder if this is because of Logan.’_

With a sigh, Edd gathered everything back on the tray before getting to his feet and heading toward the kitchen.

He had no further exams this week and despite the blemish on his otherwise stellar attendance record, he would be fine.

His gaze caught the now entirely soggy cereal and lukewarm grapefruit as he placed the tray on the countertop and began the process of cleaning up.

_‘I will resume my line of questioning at some point once he is aroused from his slumber. For now,’_

Edd took off the thin latex gloves and placed them neatly in the tall waist basket before replacing them with the thicker, yellow latex gloves he preferred to use for cleaning.

_‘back to my schedule.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please excuse any grammatical or spelling errors. I hope you've enjoyed the story thus far, feel free to leave any feedback. Until next time.


	3. Like Mother, Like Ed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance if the chapter is a bit long.

Kevin awoke with a groan, feeling muscles pop in places as the smell of lidocaine burned his nostrils for a moment and made him sneeze. He felt a lot better after getting some real rest. A majority of his aches and pains had vanished during his slumber, including the one in his lower back.

He saw Double D poke his head around the entrance into the room, wearing a cleaning apron, a pair of yellow gloves and the handle of what looked like a mop.

Their eyes locked and a smile broke out the dork’s face, showing off the gap in his teeth. Kevin felt his lips wanting to tug into a toothy grin of its own as he stretched again, getting to his feet.

_‘He always had such a contagious smile.’_

“Glad to see that you have finally awoken, Kevin!” He called out to him in a friendly manner, stepping fully into the room to reveal he was wearing a pair skinny blue jeans and white fuzzy bunny slippers.

Kevin arched a brow at them and shook his head.

_‘Such a cute frickin dork.’_

“Nice shoes.” He teased and Edd looked down at his feet then back up at Kevin bashfully.

“T-thank you.” Edd stammered before clearing his throat and straightening up, giving an authoritative look. “I suspect that you must be feeling better?”

The redhead nodded truthfully.

“Thanks again, Double Dweeb.” Kevin stated earnestly and with the annoyed glare he received, Kevin gave him a sheepish grin as he cleared his throat and corrected himself. “I mean Double Dork.”

The glare didn’t let up and Kevin shrugged “The best your getting outta me.”

“Fair enough.” Double D responded with an eye roll and a smile as Kevin gave him a light punch on the arm that unbalanced him a little. “Come on, I don’t mean anything by the nicknames, Double D! We don’t got much but I figured you know,” he rubbed the back of his neck looking unsure. “…it’s kinda like ‘our’ thing.”

The sock-hatted teen thought it over before nodding in agreement and relenting. “I suppose it is. There was always a certain finesse you carry that allows me to continue to accept such ‘endearing’ nicknames from you that I would not from say, our other peers.”

“Choice!” Kevin exclaimed as he wrapped an arm around his host who blushed in response. “Anyway, I’ll make this up to you, I swear.”

“Nonsense Kevin! As long as you are feeling better,” Double D replied happily as he gently pulled himself out of Kevin’s grasp, still blushing before he cleared his throat. “May I suggest in the future that you make plans to better take of yourself?”

Kevin’s face faltered and ever observant, Edd caught the mood change. With a nervous smile and twist of the mop handle, he immediately added “As to not put yourself in such distressful situations again, of course!”

Kevin’s face immediately softened into an apologetic grimace as he gave a subtle nod of his head and began looking around the floor, trying to remember where his shoes were.

“Yeah,” Kevin agreed with regret. “I know. I was more thinking about how I’ve been a pain for you this morning. If I’d already been doing that junk, you wouldn’t of had to help me.” He looked up into Double D’s eyes. “I really am sorry.”

Double D studied him, particularly his expression with mild concern but nodded in understanding before walking over towards the kitchen and leaning the mop against the wall without stepping foot on what Kevin assumed from the abnormally clean and reflective surface, was a still drying floor.

“It really is alright Kevin.” He called back softly. “Having you here has been odd, but pleasant.”

_‘Me? Pleasant? To the dork? … **Rad**.’_

Kevin let a faint smile grace his features as he looked around the floor again, still having an issue remembering where he’d placed his shoes before he looked over at window. The curtain was drawn and the blinds were closed. _‘Probably left it that way so I could sleep.’_ he told himself as he walked over, pulling the curtain aside a little and lifting a few of the window blind panels.

It was a bright, sunny day out and the cul-de-sac was quiet. _‘Everyone’s probably at work or at school.’_ he thought as his eyes instantly focused on his house, noting that the truck was still there, indicating his parents were mostly likely both still home.

_‘I really gotta talk to em eventually. Mom is probably worried sick. Surprised she hasn’t called Detective Smith yet.’_

He shut the blinds, closed the curtains, and came away from the window with a sigh before something dawned on him and he looked up toward the kitchen.

“Hey, what time is it?” Kevin called in confusion, looking around for a clock before slapping his forehead and pulling out his own cell from his pocket to check.

More missed phone calls. From both his parents, another from Nazz along with an urgent text. He took the moment to read it, his grip tightening on the phone as a pang of guilt seized him.

“It’s 11:46 a.m.!” He heard his host call from the hallway a little further in the house, shuffling around with something.

He placed his cell back in his pocket and took a moment to look around the living room in earnest, trying to forget about the text.

It was clean to the point of sterile, reminding him of a hospital. The carpet was so springy and fluffy that he was sure he could have laid on it and he would have been just as comfortable there as he had been on the couch. The cherry wood coffee table was so polished that he could see his reflection in it.

There was a beautiful electric cobblestone fireplace that had a line of fine china decorating the mantle. Above it, was a huge portrait of Double D with whom Kevin assumed were his parents.

The trio were smiling brightly with welcoming looks on each of their faces. The woman, presumably his mother, had short black cut in a pixie hairstyle. She was dressed in a finely pressed business suit that was black in color. His father had fuller, curled black hair that looked soft touch.  _‘…I wonder if the dork has hair like that under that beanie he’s always wearin.’_ Kevin mused as he continued to study the picture. The elder man wore thick rectangular glasses with a white button up dress shirt and dark red tie. His mother’s eyes were a bright ocean blue like Double D’s while his father’s eyes were a dark brown to the point of looking black.  The dork stood in the middle with a hand from each parent on either of his shoulders, wearing one of the many vest, dress shirt, and a tie combinations Kevin had seen him wear to school. His hands were clasped in front of him together while he wore his trademark knit cap on his head. Kevin assumed the picture was fairly recent, as Edd didn’t look much younger in the picture than he did now.

 _‘I think this is the first time I’ve ever really seen his parents.’_ Kevin recalled to himself as his gaze shifted over a few more portraits on the wall, some of fine art, others being various family pictures, including one of Double D dressed like a ladybug back when he had to be about five, a hug grin plastered on his face.

Kevin snorted down a laugh, shaking his head as he wondered out of the room and down the hall. He paused when he saw Double D in an adjacent room, dusting various pieces of furniture.

It was an office, with dark oak walls and decorated with more cherry wood furniture.

A large executive desk with a pricey looking desktop and laptop on it sat next to a wide, drawn curtain window.

There was another cobble stone fireplace, though this time, the mantle, as well as the walls, were decorated with various awards and certificates.

On the far right wall was a large trophy case, kinda like the one his parents kept in their game room, filled with even more trophies and framed certificates.

He quietly shifted further into the room, leaving the tidying teen undisturbed as he read the name on the various awards in the case.

 _‘Whoa, the dork’s got a load of these!’_ Kevin thought in slight awe, reading Eddward M. Vincent over and over on the various plaques and papers. _‘Didn’t know you could get so many awards for being such a dweeb!’_

A loud yell of shock made him jump and stare around wildly, balling his fist up just in case as he whirled around to face Double D, who was clutching his chest to himself, looking as if he had been foolish.

“Kevin, you startled me!” He began chuckling, sounding relieved yet still shaken and Kevin sighed in relief himself that nothing was actually wrong.

“Did you need something of me?”

“Uh, no, not really.” Kevin admitted, taking the rim of his hat and pulling it partially on and off his head in quick succession as he smiled sheepishly. “Just kinda snooping around I guess. Never really had a chance to look around your place before.”

He left his hat alone, shoving his hands in his pocket. “I mean there was that one time I chased dorky into your room when he was dressed like you. You had this alarm go off that threw him out of it and junk.”

He looked up at his host curiously. “Did you make it yourself? That alarm system?”

Double D nodded slowly, looking modest. “Why yes, I did! It’s still functional actually. I’ve only managed to improve upon it over the years.”

“Choice.” Kevin replied with a courteous smile. “Glad I didn’t get nosey enough to peek in there then.”

Double D smiled with pride and gave a short chortle as he went back to dusting a small lamp on an in-table in the corner.

“So are all these trophies and stuff yours?” Kevin asked, suddenly more interested in the room around him.

“Just the ones in the case,” Double D called over his shoulder. “The rest belong to my parents for their various achievements in the medicinal field and legality.”

 _‘Of course his parents would have jobs like that.’_ The jock thought, remembering the portrait of the two middle aged adults. ‘Explains why they’re gone all the time.’

“I see. Must be pretty good at their jobs.” Kevin offered and Double D gave him this snort of a chuckle that sounded oddly bitter.

“But of course! My father being a renowned surgeon in his field is sought after from all over the country and a few others. While it leaves him very little time for other, _trivial_ things, it does afford us a comfortable, if not practical lifestyle.” He recalled matter of factly as he placed the duster down on another end table and began to polish the desk, scrubbing vigorously.

“Mother just made partner a few years ago and as a result has been quite busy with her law firm. It too, leaves a very small amount of time for the trivial nuances in her life.”

 _‘Like you.’_ Kevin realized with a pang of guilt. _‘I shouldn’t have brought that up.’_

Double D huffed out in annoyance as he stopped in his work, admiring what he’d already done before looking up to face Kevin. Like he was studying him.

“It has gotten rather late in the day. Wouldn’t you need to go home?” The sock-hatted teen began in a calculated manner that made Kevin’s hair stand in end. “To confront your parents with your absence?”

_‘Oh shit, I think I made the dork angry! He’s kickin me out!’_

“Well, yeah.” Kevin admitted nervously as Double D watched his every movement with scrutiny. “At some point, yeah.”

_‘I’m stallin.’_

“You’re stalling.” He replied knowingly and Kevin was taken aback.

_‘Is the dork so smart he can read minds now?!’_

“I take it you are not ready to face them yet.” Double D stated and Kevin nodded with a small shrug. “I dunno how to. There’s…a lot of crap I’m gonna have to unpack and I don’t know what I’m gonna say.”

He looked annoyed as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “Mom’s the worst. She’ll put everything I say under a microscope and push me into corners, grilling me for info. Dad’ll just stand there, glaring at me with this look that’ll make me feel like shit. Not saying anything, arms crossed, hovering over me. They always get like that when crap like this happens.”

“How often does this happen?” Double D asked in disbelief and Kevin snorted. “Depends. Crap like this weekend though? Not so much.” He sighed. “That’s what’s makin this so hard. I don’t know where to start and how much I wanna tell them.”

Double D thumped his finger to his temple in contemplation before his face brightened and he gave Kevin an encouraging smile. “Why don’t you allow me to ask you a few questions and see how you fair? It might be suitable practice for the ‘grilling’ your parents will give you and better preparation of what you might say in return.”

Kevin arched a brow and Double D nervously added. “I do admit that I too, am curious to know the details of what lead to you’re the extraordinary circumstances of this morning.”

Kevin scuffed and tilted his head back towards the ceiling with an eye roll. He should of known. It was the only thing that made him remotely hesitate when he’d decided to come here. No way the most inquisitive of Dork, Dork, and Dorky was gonna let him slide without wanting some answers.

_‘…I guess I owe him that. It’s the least I can do for all the shit he put up with this morning. Plus the dork must be dyin for having to skip school just to take care of me.’_

“Do you agree to my proposal?” Double D asked politely, looking as hopeful as he sounded, an inquisitive gleam radiating in his bright blue eyes. Kevin stared into them for the moment, getting lost in the realization of how pretty he found them as he continued to mull the idea over.

He’d wanted someone to talk to since Nazz was currently off limits to him, so this didn’t sound like too bad of an idea. Though he wasn’t exactly sure how much he would be willing to let Double D in on. There was the possibility he would spill everything to those other two dork’s of his, then he’d have to punch all the dork’s lights out.

He looked over at Double D, concentrating on his face and those bright blue eyes in particular and mentally retched at the thought of hitting him. Sure, he’d be pissed but he wouldn’t dream of hitting the dork nowadays.

Besides, he knew the dork would be protective of his privacy on principle alone, so he had no reason to worry about that.

Still, speaking with him wouldn’t be exactly like talking to Nazz: while Double D wouldn’t be nearly as biased, they weren’t nearly as close. So he couldn’t be sure if he’d be comfortable divulging so much of his personal crap when he hated doing so to begin with. Double D had never seen that side of him and he wasn’t sure he was comfortable with him doing it now. Then again, with the way the dork handled things this morning…

“Kevin?”

He blinked out of his intense stare, realizing Double D was still watching him with hope but mild concern, nervously biting his bottom lip as he patiently awaited the redhead’s answer.

He would test the waters first. See how comfortable this all felt to him before pouring his hearts out.

“So you just wanna ask a few questions to see how I’d handle dealing with my folks,” he answered finally and Double D nodded with enthusiasm. Kevin nodded in return. “Alright, fine. Whatcha got?”

“Right!” Double D beamed as he collected himself and began cleaning again. Kevin felt his own lips twitch, ready to smile in response to his host’s.

_‘I really dig his smile, man.’_

“Let’s see: you informed me that your parents were unaware of your whereabouts this weekend.” Double D recalled, speaking to his guest over his shoulder. “What is your answer for refusing to call them to ensure they knew of your well being?”

“Cause I kinda couldn’t.” Kevin answered easily. “I was drunk, which was bad enough. Dunno what I would’ve said under the influence. Besides, even sober, if I answered, they might’ve realized where I was or at least who I was with. If they’d known I was with Logan, it would just be a whole lot worse.”

With a troubled glance to the side, he added “I really don’t wanna get him trouble.”

Double D’s brows furrowed. “Why would he get in trouble for your being there? Do they not approve of Logan?”

“They don’t know about us dating. At all. They think he’s helping me get scouted for football or something.” Kevin replied. “If they did, they wouldn’t like us together, no.”

“Is it because of your sexual orientation?” Double D asked in a soft, cautious way.

Kevin smiled. “No, my parents are pretty supportive of me with that.”

He instantly recalled the time his father attempted to be his wingman when they, along with Nazz, had gone to a All-Star basketball game for his sixteenth birthday. He cringed at the memory. “Maybe too supportive. They can be down right embarrassing about it.”

Double D chuckled as he made himself eye level with the desk, inspecting it before he once again began buffing a stubborn area near the end. “I would love for my parents to be so engaged with that aspect of my life.”

“They don’t accept whatever your into?” Kevin wondered, watching the lanky teen clean as he leaned against the wall close to door. “They have no time to care,” Double D corrected him and Kevin stiffened, feeling a pang of guilt again.

“Well, at least it gives you free reign to do whatever you want with whomever and not have to worry about being judged.” Kevin offered, hoping to lighten Double D’s clearly bitter disposition. Double D cut him a look over his shoulder and Kevin offered a forced smile that came off more like a grimace.

Double D’s face softened as he turned back to his cleaning. “I suppose you have a point. I appreciate your attempts to find a silver lining to my obvious contempt.”

“No prob.” Kevin replied, feeling more relaxed. Double D tsked as he got more cleaning solution, pouring it on the wood as he muttered to himself about what could possibly be on it that was being so stubborn with coming up before he addressed Kevin again.

“If we may, I would like to get back to what you were saying about Logan.”

Kevin cleared his throat. “Right. It’s different with him. I dunno what it is, but Mom just acts super weird when he comes around.”

“What do you mean?”

Kevin shrugged as he tried putting it into words. “There’s just this whole thing, like a bad vibe or something between them. Dad doesn’t help either; he just glares at him most of the time, like he’s waiting on him to try somethin. It got so awkward, I just stopped him from comin around when my folks are home.”

He frowned a little. “Then there’s this whole thing of when we got together. We started dating back in the summer before my sophomore year. He was about to start college then.”

“You started dating Logan back then?” Double D inquired surprised and Kevin chuckled at the recollection of the first time the pair had met. “We were at a party and he approached me first. Pursued me for most of my freshman year before I gave in. My parents would have flipped if they knew I was with someone that much older than me, especially Mom.”

He grimaced. “She would’ve definitely called a few of her coworkers and tried to get him arrested if she could.”

There was a small silence as Double D paused in his buffing of the wood to glance back at Kevin.

“I-I suppose the age gap isn’t that disconcerting.” Double D tried nonchalantly, though sounding terribly unconvincing to both himself and the redhead that stood a few feet away from him.

“We had sex before the summer we started dating. His birthday is before mine, so he’d already turned eighteen by then.” Kevin stated flatly and Double D gawked with his mouth agape, doing the math in his head as he looked more and more uncomfortable as time passed.

“Oh.” Was all the he could manage, looking at his now fidgeting hands and Kevin pursed his lips together and he breathed out of nose loudly, taking note of the mosaic tiled ceiling.

“Yeah. She would have definitely called the cops.”

What followed was a very awkward silence as the pair avoided eye contact, Double D returning back to cleaning.

_‘Or pretending to. Dork’s barely movin that towel around now.’_

As Kevin began to shuffle his weight from foot to foot, his mind wondered back to that first time he had ever been with Logan. That had been around his birthday too, if he recalled correctly, and he remembered the jokes the pair had made about how by letting his first time be with Logan, it would be the ‘perfect present’ for the brunette.

Kevin couldn’t help the bitterness that nipped at his core. The irony of their time then and the course of events over the weekend would make him laugh if it didn’t piss him off.

_‘Only thing the same was how manipulative he had been.’_

He watched Double D buff a small area on the desk gently, studying the spot before placing the rag he was working with in the single large pocket of his apron.

“There. Finally all finished in here!” He announced proudly as he looked accomplished before he walked over to Kevin, slowing to a stop when he was just inches away. He took note of his lightly red face. “Are you sure you’re felling well?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Room looks nice.” Kevin offered quickly, hoping to make things feel less awkward as he brushed aside the memory. He hadn’t even realized he’d been blushing.

“Thank you.” Double D responded with gratitude as he slipped pass Kevin and exited the room, the redhead following close behind as the pair made their way back to the living room.

“Would you like a beverage or something to eat?” Double D offered.

“Sure. I’ll take another orange and a water if you got it.”

_‘Don’t wanna put him through much more trouble. I’ll just eat light until I get home. If my folks don’t kill me, I’ll get a real meal then.’_

Double D gave a nod and quickly left the room, leaving Kevin to himself. The redhead looked around the room again, finally spotting his pair of shoes on a mat by the front door.

 _‘That’s right, I took em off at the door before he gave me these socks.’_ Kevin reminded himself as he took a seat on the couch, flinching only a little. The throbbing in his ass had subsided quite a deal since earlier that morning and even more so since the day before.

_‘Pain outta be gone by tomorrow I guess.’_

He only had to wait a few minutes longer before Double D came back into the room with a bowl of peeled orange slices, a saucer with crackers and a cheese assortment spread, and two bottled waters on a tray.

“Thanks.” Kevin said and Double D made a few incoherent noises he assumed was meant to be a response as he took his sat beside Kevin. The pair sat in silence then, eating the orange slices and crackers. Double D continued to steal glances at the him whenever he thought he wasn’t being watched and Kevin felt his impatience rise.

It was clear he had a desire to continue their previous conversation and despite the awkward hiccup, it hadn’t been too bad and Kevin felt obligated to oblige him. Placing the orange slice back into the porcelain bowl, the jock leaned back on the couch and folded his hands over his chest.

“Go ahead.” He instructed firmly and Double D looked taken aback.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Those questions you wanted to ask, remember? Go ahead.” Kevin offered, making sure his facial expression stayed as neutral as possible while he did his best to put on a confident air about him.

Double D looked on in a quizzical nature, beginning to bite his bottom lip as one of his hands played with the hem of his hat, thinking up his next question. Satisfied with whatever he’d come up with, he turned in his seat to face Kevin directly, his expression unreadable now, unnerving Kevin a little as second thoughts began to nag at him.

“You stated before that you drank until you were so inebriated that you lost consciousness.” Double D began and Kevin instantly didn’t like where this line is questioning was heading. At least not this quickly in the conversation.

“Am I to assume you did not have those lacerations and bruises on your person prior to your intoxicated escapades?” he asked in a steady, even tone as he watched Kevin’s body language closely.

_‘Okay Kev. Respond just like you’re actually talkin to Mom, cause this dork is going straight for the jugular.’_

So Kevin didn’t answer at all. Instead he instinctively looked down at his wrapped wrists, shame evident as his cheeks became red.

“I see.” Double D responded giving a brief knowing glare with a curt nod before looking to clearly be concentrating on his next question. Kevin watched as he took an orange slice from the bowl but held on to it in-between his fingers instead of eating it, still thinking.

_‘I swear, if this dork does that dramatic-food-question-thing Mom likes to do...’_

He shook the comparison out of his thoughts and attempted to concentrate on the matter at hand.

_‘He wants me to use this like a practice run, fine. Gotta keep control of the situation then. I’ve gotta try takin the lead. If I give the information, I can have better control of the questions asked.’_

He cleared his throat and began to put his plan in motion.

“It all gets kinda hazy.” Kevin offered, grabbing Double D out of his thoughts and gaining his undivided attention with ease as he listened intently. “You know, at a college party. Those things can get pretty wild, so all those bruises and junk and how I got em are hard for me to recall.”

He gave the prying teen a playful shrug and cheeky smirk. “I can guess a few things, honestly. Knowing me, it was probably a fight.”

Double D flashed him an amused look that indicated he thought his answer was cute, but incorrect as he arched a single eyebrow.

“Those markings on your wrist alone clearly indicate that of a binding, not of a physical altercation.” He stated confidently and bit off a small piece of his orange slice with an air of smugness before adding “I suppose I have no need to remind you of those bruises on your neck or around your hips?”

Kevin’s right leg began to bob up and down in rapid succession as his face began to flush deeper. A clear sign he was becoming anxious and one he knew Double D caught if the passing glance towards the gesture was anything to go by.

He finished his orange slice before he attempted to address the redhead again. His face was calm and friendly but Kevin was on to him now. Double D was using that unassuming dorkiness to play on his defenses and throw him off his game.

 _‘Pretty clever.’_ Kevin admitted to himself in annoyance. _‘Mom would love him. They’re so alike, she could take a break whenever she wanted to grill me over crap. This might have been a bad idea after all…’_

“Would you prefer not to speak anymore about it? How you may have obtained those markings on your wrist and along your neck?” Double D asked in genuine concern before adding. “And backside?”

“Smartass.” Kevin grumbled with an accusing glare but otherwise said nothing as he pondered the offer.

 _‘He’s giving me an out, I should take it.’_ He tried reasoning with himself as he stalled. He licked his lips and cleared his throat, deciding to go against his own advice. He told the dork he was gonna do this and he would follow through. In truth, a part of him wanted to see what Edd would think about all of this and what he’d have to say.

Maybe it could give him some insight into the uneasy and conflicting thoughts he’d been having as of late.

“Sunday morning, after the party, I woke up next to Logan.’ He began to explain, keeping his voice steady and relying on his trademark aloof, casual nature to try and sale that he was perfectly okay with talking about something like so openly. “We were naked so I just kinda assumed we...ya know.”

Double D nodded in understanding, looking uncomfortably embarrassed. Kevin agreed with the sentiment privately as he gave a subtly nod of his own. It was just so weird talking to Double D of all people about this. Though the part of him that liked teasing Double D wondered how far he could push the conversation before he would get under the dork’s skin.

_‘Another time. Gotta focus.’_

“We can get a little rough, so that’s probably what happened Saturday…I guess.” Kevin added as he looked at his wrists, holding his arms up and out in front of him a before setting them back down on his lap and returning his gaze to his host. “So yeah, you nailed it Double Dork. That’s where all the markings and junk came from.”

Double D adverted his eyes briefly, his face reddening before something dawned on him and, he turned his attention back to Kevin looking deeply troubled. “You would allow him to let something like that transpirewithout being cognizant enough to give consent to it?”

Kevin did a double take, getting caught off guard. “What?”

“You were so inebriated that you passed out and when you woke up, you were naked in your boyfriend’s bed.” Double D recited back to him slowly, hoping Kevin caught the same troubling take away he had. “Has he ever done that before? Without your consent?”

_‘…Oh.’_

“No, wait, hold on!” Kevin began feeling nervous, holding his hands up a little. “It’s not what you’re thinking. I mean, he’s never done anything like that before but even so, you know, it’s fine if he did.”

Double D stared bemused at him, blue eyes wide and blinking rapidly as if he hadn’t comprehended what he’d just heard correctly. Kevin read the sentence back in his mind and silently agreeing, made another attempt to clear the air.

“Cause he’s my boyfriend, so it’s not that big of a deal, I mean.” He tried then immediately not liking the sound of that either, attempted, “We’ve had sex and do it a lot—okay not a lot but enough—and, um, so I shouldn’t care if we did it then either.”

Double D simply continued staring in disbelief and Kevin felt the embarrassment creep into his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked away.

“It sounded way better when Logan explained it.” He muttered more to himself but Double D caught it and pounced immediately in a way Kevin wasn’t ready for.

“So you confronted him about the situation and he made it sound as though his behavior was valid because you two are dating?” He asked with a hint of disgust.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Kevin insisted, once again recalling what had been relayed to him when he’d confronted the brunette less than pleased about the situation. “I mean I don’t care about it. Really.”

_‘Great, I’m lying already.’_

“If you did not care, you would not be in clear distress over the thought of it.” Double D proclaimed quickly, using his understanding of Kevin’s body language and tone to validate his claim. “You sound as if you were trying to convince yourself of that obviously false notion rather than me.”

“Well it was his birthday,” Kevin tried while insisting to himself that his excuses didn’t sound pathetic. “I’d already told him no to the present he asked for, so maybe this was like a compromise for him.”

“What did he ask for?” Double D demanded and Kevin gave the best nonchalant shrug he could muster, still trying to seem unfazed. “He wanted me to do…stuff. You know. A threesome. With one of his friends.”

Double D was back to staring in embarrassed bewildering discomfort and any other time, Kevin would have found the look on his face hilarious. Now he just wanted to clear the air and move on and away from his own lingering doubts.

“I said no. He accepted that. I got drunk and we had sex. Just the two of us. End of story, next question Double Dweeb.” He snapped quickly, fidgeting with his hat nervously.

Double D watched him for a few moments longer before he challenged him. “Do you know that for sure? That it was just the two of you and he did not attempt to take further advantage of your drunken state?”

_‘It wouldn’t bother me so damn much if I did…’_

“Sure,” he lied, trying to sound absolute, if not a little cold and distant as he attempted to place mental barriers up to starve off the feelings of unease nagging at him. With any hope, maybe it would dissuade any follow up questions as well. “Like I said, when I woke up, it was just he and I. No one else. When I asked, he told me it didn’t happen that way and I believe him.”

“No you don’t.” Double D realized and Kevin gave him the coldest glare he had given the dork in a long time, indicating this part of the conversation was officially over.

“We done?” He demanded rudely, trying to look intimidating but to his surprise, despite just the hint of a nervous twitch here and there, Double D held his ground, arms folded over his chest as he glared back with a hard, serious look of his own.

“Only if you admit your attempts to make light of Logan’s behavior are indicative of the fact that you are not as comfortable as you are claiming to be about the situation.” Double D returned bluntly.

Kevin gave a barely noticeable shrug of a single shoulder in a weak attempt to mask his own insecurities.

“I said I was fine with it dork, so I am. No hidden meanings here.” He lied again.

“You came to my home, at six in the morning need I remind you, to get away from the place of one of the people you should feel the most comfortable with, Kevin. In no way are you ‘fine’ with any of this.” Double D challenged.

Kevin lifted his hat and ran a hand through his hair as he completely avoided Double D’s gaze now. He had no comeback for that because he already knew Double D was right.

If this conversation kept up, he would be sure to have to confront all the nasty little ends and outs of his relationship with Logan and he wasn’t so sure he was prepared to do that.

So it was time for a new tactic. Change the fucking subject.

“So I noticed you’ve been hanging out with Nazz lately,” he began, trying to sound casual as he flipped his hat back to it’s usual backwards state on his head and Double D arched an eyebrow at him with a face that seemed to ask if he was being serious in his attempt. “she doing okay, I guess? What’s with her and the Kanker?”

“You would have to ask her about her personal relations.” Double D replied with a pointed glare. “As for her mood, I would say it has been melancholy as of late.”

Then his face hardened again and Kevin knew he’d made a mistake. “She will not speak on the finer details, though through overhearing her passionate rants to Marie, I was able to assess that Logan and to a lesser extent, you were somehow to blame.”

“I bet.” He responded, sounding far more bitter than he meant to. “We haven’t talked or hung out like a month.”

“Am I to presume Logan is to blame for that as well?” Double D questioned knowingly, his disapproving frown deepening as Kevin cut him a look.

“Presume what you want Dorko, but it’s not just Logan’s fault.” Kevin announced bitterly. “The two hated each other from the start and she was constantly trying to break us up.”

“And her reasoning would be?” Double D pressed. Kevin rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Cause she thinks Logan’s too much of a manipulative asshole and has some sway over me or some crap she keeps yammering on about.”

“I grasp to wonder where she ever would have gotten such an idea.” Double D replied in a faux innocence laced with sarcasm.

Kevin cut him another glare, feeling the onset of his anger approaching as he felt another nerve struck.

“It was my fault. Logan gave me an ultimatum and I chose him. I felt like it was the right thing to do cause we’re dating.” He had the presence of mind to look guilty as he thought of the constant notifications he’d been receiving from the blond periodically since Sunday.

“Why would he force you to do that?”

“He found out Nazz was telling me to break up with him.” Kevin admitted grumpily before he glared again at Double D. “Does it really matter? I’m the one that let it happen.”

“But it sounds as if he pressed the issue,” Double D proclaimed. “Even still, what was he doing giving you an ultimatum?”

“What he wanted to do!” Kevin snapped and instantly regretted seeing Double D flinch at the harshness of his tone. Nazz was still a sore spot for him, as he held a lot guilt about the way things ended up between the pair. Despite that and his annoyance at the questioning, it was no reason to take things out on his generous host and he knew it.

Taking a calming breath to regain his composure, he offered Double D an apologetic look before he continued. “I let a guy I don’t even think I’m gonna be with in a year from now break up a friendship I’ve had since childhood. All because I felt like being a stubborn ass to prove him wrong about what he said about us.”

“But he never should have given you that ultimatum in the first place!” Double D insisted and while Kevin agreed he gave his rebuttal. “He gave the ultimatum, but I could have picked her or refused all together. So I got no one to blame for how bad that got botched but myself.”

He pulled out his cell and tossed it to Double D who barely caught it before it hit the floor. “See that, dork? Even now, she keeps trying to reach out and be there for me. You know how upset she’s been with me but she’s still trying, despite what I did to her.”

They both stared at the now lit screen as Double D flicked at it, noting the many notifications Kevin spoke of.

“She’s been super rad and I don’t deserve her as a friend anymore. So that’s that.”

For his part, Edd sat back to lean on the couch, giving the cell back to Kevin before picking up one of the bottled waters and taking a swig. He didn’t pretend to hide how unconvinced he was by Kevin’s last statement, to the point that it bordered on condescending.

“Not allowing Nazz a say in your friendship is what helped to land you in this predicament with her, that is true.”Edd stated thoughtfully as Kevin watched on with a passive expression, his anger waning. “While I will not deny that Logan had a right to feel embittered by the prospect of an interloper attempting to end your relationship, I can not help but believe that Nazz’s motivations are justified and sound.”

“Without even knowing what they are?”

“Yes,” Edd said easily. “It’s clear that she is quite worried about the context of your relationship with him and with good cause. Given the little I have heard today alone, I can only image what you may have told her in confidence or what she may have personally seen that would make her harbor a disdain for your boyfriend.”

“Okay look,” Kevin started as he went further on the defensive, realizing he really didn’t want to hear what Double D had to say anymore on the matter, even if deep down he knew he needed to.

“Logan and I have our issues, and he can be a real dick, but I swear, this all just sounds worse than it is!”

Double D guffawed. “Like with his birthday celebration?” He asked sarcastically.

Kevin glared. “It’s not like he put a gun to my head and forced me to drink anything.”

“No, it’s certainly not.” Double D agreed. “He simply refused to aid in the moderation of an underaged drinker at his college party, despite being your significant other. Irresponsible behavior at best, until you factor in his encouragement of your excessive drinking. Which now, given your recent revelations, seem to have had rather dubious motives behind his sentiment to do so.”

“He didn’t encourage—”

“Please, stop lying for him Kevin!” Double D cut him off, passionate with his refusal to allow the continuation of such behavior. “You already admitted that he’d done so before your slumber!”

“Did I?” Kevin challenged, his mouth suddenly feeling dry.

“You have informed me—several times might I add—that Saturday was a celebration of his birth. It was because of that notion that he requested that you quote ‘party hard’ with him.” Double D returned matter of factly. “So in a manner of speaking, yes. You did.”

“That could’ve met anything.” Kevin snapped stubbornly.

He saw blue eyes flicker to his wrist before looking back up to meet his green gaze.

“Clearly.” Double D responded flippantly, though his expression was unnervingly serious.

Kevin’s eyes flashed as he clenched his jaw.

Realizing a line may have been crossed, Double D took in a steady breath and calmly added, “I apologize if my demeanor comes off as combative or if my commentary has put you in a state of discontent.”

He fastened the top on his water bottle and placed it back on the tray before continuing.

“I would be remiss if I did not admit that I find no correlation between an individual that expresses care and consideration for you, yet leaves you in various states of vulnerability.” He admitted.

Kevin said nothing as he listened carefully to Double D’s words, letting them gnaw subconsciously at the concerns he’d been trying all this time to ignore.

“Sabotaging the friendships he deems threatening in his attempts to gain control over you and your relationship. Displacement of the trust your parents have in you. A heedless betrayal of your own trust in him during your inebriation.” He wrung his hands together nervously as he continued. “I worry that you are choosing to ignore the obvious red flags that are already so apparent to me.”

He stared at Kevin with genuine concern. “Choosing to ignore them in favor of blindingly continuing what sounds like an unhealthy relationship. You would have to be, if Nazz has been trying so persistently to make you aware of them... and you have already acknowledged that she has.”

Kevin ran his tongue over his teeth as he sucked on them lightly, now staring intently at the wall across from him. He wanted to be angry with Double D. He wanted to lash out, scream, tell the dork to shut up, show him how wrong he was or even punch the wall he was glaring at and knock a picture or two down.

But he didn’t.

Instead he replayed every single word Double D had been saying over the last serval minutes in his mind, fighting back the tears that stung the corner of his eyes.

He knew Double D would say what he needed to hear and really, had already known deep down. He couldn’t ignore him as he did Nazz: with her, he could brush aside the constant pleads to listen, to simply write off anything negative she had to say as her being biased against Logan. Stubborn to see his relationship the way he did.

He couldn’t do that to Double D, just like he couldn’t do it with his parents, which he knew was another deep seeded reason he’d seen to it that Logan and his parents made as little contact as possible. Yet unlike his parents, he’d sought out his peer’s criticism. Secretly wanted it even.

And he still couldn’t figure out why.

They sat in that continued heavy silence, the raven haired teen watching the redhead with trepidation and concern before finally, Kevin began speaking again. “I knew before we started dating things wouldn’t work out. I didn’t need Nazz to tell me that but I let her take the fall for it when Logan got wind of my doubts. I keep hiding him from my folks because I know they’d see right through him and hate me being with him. Hell, you barely know him and you can already see everything for what it is.”

He let a loud snort as he felt the first onset of tears fall down his face, choosing not to care about Double D seeing them. He’d already seen at low points today, what were a few tears now?

“He’d probably hate you.” He announced, still laughing bitterly at the thought.

“I think the baseball to the face establishes that already, Kevin.” Double D offered with a weak smile but Kevin shook his head.

“The moment I needed your help, you gave it. I needed to get all this out, you’re listening. I still can’t believe you—you— took off from school just for me.” He shook his head. “He would hate knowing I had someone else like this to go to. Makes me feel bad.”

“In no way should you feel bad for having someone to confide in and depend on.” Double D chastised softly before handing him a tissue. Kevin readily accepted, inclining his head towards him to acknowledge his thanks. “And I will not allow you to berate yourself and your misguided actions on his behalf any longer.”

Kevin started to protest but Double D held up a stern finger and glared. “No. Stop worrying about him and concentrate on yourself! You have made your mistakes known and realized the follies in making them. You will need to work on correcting them instead of bottling up your discontent and allowing things to fester.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Kevin murmured with a shake of his head. “No matter how much of a dick I know he is or how bad everything is in our relationship gets, I want to be there. Cause I still care, you know?”

He got to his feet and began to pace in place, cracking his knuckles in between wringing his hands together. “He’ll just tell me what I wanna hear and I’ll fucking listen like I always do. Thinking about all the cool vibes and good times we’ve had. I’ll let em tell me how everything is my fault. Nothing’ll change while I keep pretending I dunno why I’m so fucking miserable.”

He rubbed at his face in a vain attempt to finally get rid of the tears, finally pausing in his pacing as he turned to stare in misery at the concerned teen that watched him closely.

“What the fuck is wrong with me, Edd?”

For a split moment, Double D looked taken aback by Kevin using his abbreviated first name before without a word, he got to his own feet, crossed the short distance between them and pulled Kevin in to a tight embrace.

Kevin’s breathing hitched and he stiffened instantly, not returning the gesture immediately.

He wasn’t sure how to respond taken aback by Double D’s unusual forwardness. He would have never thought he’d be on the receiving end of a cool down hug from him, but then again there was clearly a lot about him he didn’t completely know or understand.

_‘Yet.’_

Slowly, he wrapped his own arms around Double D’s waist before resting his head on his shoulder, absently thinking about how nice his companion smelled as his mind drifted back to the issues as hand.

_‘He shouldn’t have to do this for me. I need to stop bein a coward and face my problems. All my problems.’_

Once he was able to subdue a good amount of his crying, Kevin pulled away suddenly very aware of what he’d been doing.

He whipped his face, snorting out a laugh to accentuate his embarrassed state.

“Erm, sorry about all that, man.” He said in earnest and Double D only watched him. “I didn’t mean to unpack all that on you. I just really needed someone to...I dunno. Listen? Tell me what I didn’t want to hear? Give me some ideas, cause I don’t know what to do about it anymore?”

“Yes you do.” Double D stated bluntly. “For reasons I have yet to understand at this point, you seem reluctant to do so, but you know everything that needs to happen now Kevin.”

He reached forward and grabbing Kevin’s hands, gave them a squeeze as he spoke. “You said you ‘owed me one’ correct? Fine: go home. Talk with your parents so they won’t worry. Speak with Nazz and ensure the repair of your friendship. Confront Logan and do what’s best for you and only you.” He emphasized. “Ensure that this entire escapade of ours hasn’t been in vain.”

Kevin listened as he looked down at their joined hands, saying nothing. He gave their them a light squeeze of his own as he looked back up at Double D, who was giving him an encouraging smile.

“If you are in need of anymore venting or just need someone to speak with about your issues, I simply live across the street. Feel free.” He paused then added. “Preferably not before the beginning of our school day.”

Kevin guffawed, releasing their hands as Double D’s smile widened into that bright, gap toothed grin when he laughed.

Kevin watched it, transfixed for a moment before he gave him a large, charming smile of his own. “No problemo, dorkareno.”

Double D rolled his eyes as Kevin took his cell out of his pocket, watching it silently indicate that he was getting yet another call from his mother. “I gotta get going dude. For real this time, no foolin, no more stallin.”

He put his phone back in his pockets and took Edd’s hands in his again, giving them a light squeeze just to accentuate his next few words. “I promise I’ll be fine, dude. I’ll call if I need you.”

Double D looked confused for a moment.

“You have my phone number?”

“No, but I know someone I can get it from.” Kevin beamed as he reluctantly released Double D’s hands and went to put his shoes on.

Double D stared blankly until understanding dawned on his face morphing into a hopeful look.

“You know, I could just logically give it to you myself.”

Kevin shrugged. “I’d rather get it that way. Gives me an excuse, you know? An icebreaker if I need it.”

“Alright then.” Double D accepted and Kevin quickly took off his shirt, turned it inside out, snapped it once, then placed it back on himself facing the right way.

Once he smoothed it out a little, he closed the short distance between the two of them and gave Double D another quick hug, choosing not to acknowledge how red he’d made him but finding pride in it anyway.

“Next time we hang, we should do somethin more…fun.” He called, already heading out the door. He paused, thinking about how vulnerable he had been and gave Double D a foreboding look.

“Don’t you dare tell anyone about any of this. Got it, dork?” He warned and Double D immediately nodded in agreement before relieved, Kevin lightened up and gave him a short wave.

“Good. Later, Edd!”

“Fair well, Kevin!” Double D called behind him and Kevin closed the door, pausing to take in a deep breath and steel his nerves before making brisk strides to get to the other side of the street.

Mrs. Barr was on their porch, talking furiously to someone on her cordless house phone as she paced, making gestures with her free hand.

That was until two pairs of emerald eyes locked onto each other and he froze. She said something under her breath and hung up the phone, glaring daggers at her son as she slowly went back into the house, leaving their front door ajar.

Kevin let out a shaky breath and pulled out his cell, auto-dialing a number as he slowed down his pace toward his home, in no rush to have to deal with...that. It rang a couple times before there was an answer.

“Hey.” He greeted her simply and there was a flurry of chatter at him. “Yeah I know you’re at school, I figured you were at lunch.”

He made it to his front lawn as he listened to the person on the other end of the line berate him for not being there as well, taking in the sound of her voice and simply reveling in hearing her fuss at him again despite how upset she was.

“Yeah Nazz, I know you have and I’m sorry about that. If you’re not busy later, could you come over my place?  We need to talk."


	4. Driving Mr. Edd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone leaving feedback and kudos! I really appreciate it and to be honest, I feel quite humbled by it! It should only be a few more chapters before we get into the real grit of things. Admittedly, what started out as a very detailed prologue became these first several chapters. . .so yeah. XD Anyway, on with it then!

Edd stared at his watch for what was the fifth time in the past three minutes, annoyance overtaking his features.

Jason was absolutely late.

Again.

With an loud exasperated sigh, he began the walk to his high school.

Considering Kevin had gone home an hour earlier and there was still time left, Edd decided to go to school after all.

Ed was unavailable to at least walk with him as his illness guaranteed he would possibly not be able to attend the rest of their final week. Given his illness, his mother refused him any company, though Edd had sent him a ‘get well’ care package of various medications, soups, and juices.

Eddy meanwhile, would not return to school until the midweek tomorrow, having been suspended due to an altercation with a member of the basketball team. As a result, he was not permitted to have guests at his domicile, communicate with the outside world, and most certainly not allowed to give rides in his second hand muscle car.

The rest of his cul-de-sac peers were either already at school or skipping it all together and wouldn’t chance coming to pick him up and getting spotted by their parents, leaving him very few options other than walking.

Not that he minded too terribly. If he kept his usual steady and brisk pace, he would arrive in time for his AP Calculus course, which had become one of his favorites.

That wasn’t the issue.

It was the fact that he was having to walk in the first place when he most assuredly should not have had to.

_‘If Jay was not able to perform the task of giving me a ride to school, I wish he simply would have told me instead of fabricating his willingness to do so, then ignoring my continuous phone calls upon his refusal to show up!’_

Edd jumped out of thoughts and high into the air at the sound of a loud car horn, grabbing both his hat and his shoulder bag for deer life as he spun around to the face the culprit.

Sitting in the driver’s seat of a red and black streaked van was Jason.

The recently high school graduate flicked his wrist to give Edd a lazy wave of the hand before he began to drum his steering wheel. He then blew strands of his long blue dyed bangs out of his face, momentarily showing his intensely dark eyes and giving a cheeky smirk before his hair could fall back into place, making them disappear again. He laughed lazily as he leaned on the steering wheel, watching the now nervous wreck glare daggers at him.

“Honestly, must you insist on attempting to frighten me half to death after you were so late to pick me up?” He demanded in outrage.

Jason only continued to snicker as he tried and failed to quiet his laughter as Edd stuck his nose in the air and crossing his arms, began storming off down the sidewalk.

“Oh come on, don’t be that way,” Jason called out to him through the open window in his usual semi-deep, laid back tone.

Edd refused to stop, frustration building as the van began to slowly trail behind him until it was keeping an even pace with him.

“Come on, I was just messin with you.”

“Well if you have not been able to figure out, I am in no mood to be toyed with!” He snapped in a haughty tone, still refusing to slow down in his walking.

 _‘The very nerve of him considering how he has been treating me lately!’_ Edd seethed. _‘Constantly canceling various engagements and arranged meetings! Refusing to answer my calls but expecting that I should be available whenever he see fit to communicate! The refusal of taking me to school in appropriate amounts of time or at all due to ‘creative outbursts’ that must be adhered to at a moments notice!’_

He glanced over at the van still following him, eyes narrowing at the young man driving it seemingly carefully, clearly patiently waiting for him to give in and calm down.

_‘Well I shall most certainly do neither! He will be attending college come this fall semester! Surely he can find the time to stop being so immature! Unreliable! Unmotivated and oh so incredibly inconsiderate!’_

“Hey. Marion.”

Edd froze, staring frustrated at the van that pulled over to a stop just inches ahead of him.

_‘Why would he use—he knows better than that! I told him that name in complete confidentiality!’_

“Come on Double D,” Jason pressed, the hint of a subtly raised inflection in his tone the only way anyone would be able to sense any urgency to his words as his expression remained the same.

“We really gotta talk.”

Edd took in a deep breath then with a huff of resignation, he finally walked around the back of the van over to the passenger side. He jerked to open the door for a few moments, grunting in annoyed distress.

_‘Curse my inability to develop proper upper arm strength!’_

He almost fell back as the door suddenly opened seemingly on its own, catching Jason just as he sat upright back in the driver side seat.

Clearing his throat as he regained his composure and he hoped dignity, he climbed into the seat, refusing to set his sights on whatever the hell that sticky substance was on the flooring—or the dashboard.

_‘For heaven’s sake, he hasn’t been able to keep this infernal van clean since I managed to do so three weeks ago?!’_

He clenched the rim of his hat as he swallowed down his discomfort of being in such a confined, filthy space, ignoring the pair of charcoal eyes that watched him intently.

 _‘I think I’d rather walk to school.’_ He thought miserably as he caught a glimpse of something he was certain was mold close to the glove compartment handle.

_‘I think I shall become ill if I stay within the confines of this travel sized version of Ed’s bedroom.’_

“May we...please...have this conversation at another time, whatever it may be?” Edd pleaded, the scent of something downright rancid hitting his nostrils from the back of the van and activating his ‘flight’ instinctive physiological response.

Jason gave a reluctant nod as Edd went to reach for the door handle, only to stop suddenly. He inspected it carefully, unable to hide his surprise at finding no visibly outward reason not to touch it and thus escape this new torturous existence. Unable to quell his suspicions however, he dug through his shoulder bag first then reached into his hat to pull out a small pack of disinfectant whips.

“Come on Mari. It’s not that bad.” Jason responded with a vague hint of a smile on his face and Edd glared at him as if he had finally gone insane.

“Do you not see the condition of your van? Do you not smell it?!” He demanded in outrage as he swiped three towelettes from the pack and used them to grab the handle.

“It’s a worn in smell.” Jason insisted calmly.

“Where was it ‘worn in’ exactly?” Edd snapped in disbelief. “A chemical bio-hazard waste facility?”

“Dude. 'Biohazard Felicity' would be the perfect name for an album.” Jason smiled at him proudly and Edd fought the urge to face palm because he was certain he touched something in this van and not at all certain he had applied enough disinfectant to combat whatever bacteria he may have picked up.

“Okay Jay, I said facility, not felicity,” he sighed exasperated. “and is there honestly a reason you are having a hard time keeping this van moderately clean?”

Jason shrugged. “Every time I think of cleaning it, I get bummed out. So I don’t.”

Edd opened his mouth to interject but Jason continued. “I already practically live in this van, Mari. It’s like my room for me when I’m on the road. I like a pad’s that lived in, not unwelcoming and sterilized.”

 _‘Clean.’_ Edd corrected him in his mind flippantly. _‘You apparently hate a ‘pad’ that is clean.’_

“Your room is not this filthy.” Edd countered and Jason tilted his head to the side.

“That’s different.”

“How so?”

“It isn’t my van.” Jason insisted and Edd glared at him for a few sparing moments before without another word, he forcefully jerked the passenger door open and excited the van, slamming the door shut. He walked back around the back of the van and back up the sidewalk, stopping once he got to the driver’s side window.

“I am most assuredly going to be even later now thanks to this odd little venture of ours.” Edd announced, defeated.

Jason looked unmoved. “I don’t see the problem. You could of just skipped today since you’re already pretty late. Besides, I could have brought you to school but, you know, you wanted to get outta of the van. You can surf the hood if you want.”

“Absolutely not, but thank you for the egregiously inappropriate offer,” Edd replied sarcastically.

“Suit yourself, Mari.” Jason responded with a shrug and Edd’s glare hardened. “Will you please refrain from addressing me by any part of middle name?!”

“Loosen up, dude.” Jason called back, once again seemingly unaffected. “You know I get a kick outta callin you Mari. Makes me feel special cause only I can do it.”

“I hate it though.” Edd all but pouted and Jason’s lips tugged into a vague smile.

“You look cute when you get all flustered about stuff.”

Edd fought the bashful blush radiating from his cheeks as he uncrossed his arms and adjusted the strap of his shoulder bag nervously. “I still would prefer if you called me by my actual nickname or even my full given first name.” Edd mumbled gently.

Jason nodded. “If it’ll make you feel better, alright. Whatever you want.”

Edd nodded, still un-appeased.

_‘He will simply refrain from calling me by middle name for a short period of time until he inevitably returns to attempting to make me accept and adapt to his wishes. I most certainly will not.’_

“Can I pick you up from school. I really need to talk to you, Double D.” Jason insisted, staring at him with as much intense determination that he could muster.

Edd frowned, a little curious and worried about the insistence of Jason wanting to speak with him. It was clear that it must be somewhat important, which was rather unusual, save it being about his music. He nodded, trying not to show any reluctance as he thought of having to get back in that germ invested van. “Of course you may.”

“Cool,” Jay smiled, leaning out of the van window and planting a quick kiss on Edd’s lips, startling the young man with the abruptness of it.

“I’ll even clean out the van so you won’t have a heart attack in it later.”

Edd perked up, smiling at the gesture.

“I would be most appreciative.”

“Cool. Later Double D.” With that, the van moved down the road, disappearing with a right turn in the direction Edd knew was towards Jason’s home.

He sighed.

_‘I care for Jay. Really I do. Sometimes I just wish he were more...considerate.’_

With a shift of his bag, he crossed the street and headed into the park, hoping that taking the short cut would cut down on his time.

 

* * *

 

Edd tapped his foot on the concrete sidewalk as he once again found himself staring at his watch, awaiting the arrival of his flake of a boyfriend, irritation evident on his face.

“Naturally, he is a whooping fifth-teen minutes late.” Edd muttered to himself, ignoring the curious stares of his fellow peers as they exited the building and went on their way to their various destinations.

Unlike him.

With a low growl of frustration, he began to for the second time that day, walk to his destination. “Honestly Jay! You were the one whom desired to have this all important conversation!” He continued fussing to himself allowed, gripping his shoulder bag tightly as he stormed down the sidewalk.

“Why must you always lack the consideration to follow through with your own proposed time schedule as of late?!”

The rest of his day had otherwise gone uneventful.

With this week being the final one before Summer and exams having been completed the week prior, the faculty had become quite lax and didn’t seem to care about his tardiness. Edd simply attended the rest of his classes, doing extra assignments or assisting his various teachers with their cleaning or organizing of their files and desks. Once the bell rang, he gathered his things and immediate made his way to the school parking lot, assuming Jason would be waiting for him.

“I should have know better!” He snapped at himself. “He hasn’t been on time for anything in the past month! Cancelled on me even!”

“Hey, D!”

He looked over to his left as Marie Kanker slowed to a stop, pulling up beside him in her truck.

 _‘Oh dear lord, she really **did** drive the time bomb.’_ Edd realized with a hitch of his breath.

“Need a lift?” She offered and he shook his head vigorously. “No, Marie! That is quite alright! I am perfectly capable of—“

“It’s fine D! You know don’t mind!”

He stared suspiciously at the hood of her truck. “I would greatly prefer walking.”

“Stop being mean to my baby, it’s sensitive.” She joked with a scolding wag of her finger and pet the dashboard of her beat up pickup truck.

 _‘I am surprised a raccoon didn’t pop out of the glove compartment._ ’ He thought dryly.

“Come on. I got time before Nazz gets out of that cheerleader-tryout-end-of-school whatever it is. I’ll run you home then come back to pick her up.”

“Doesn’t Nazz have her own mode of transportation?” Edd questioned as he slowly got into the passenger side and buckled his seat belt, relieved that unlike Jay, Marie kept her truck relatively clean.

_‘Thanks to Nazz, I’m sure. Not that it will help it explode less.’_

“Yeah, but she road with me today cause her Dad needed the car for work. He had to go in early today and her Mom is at her grandmother’s outta town.” Marie explained pulling off, then made a sly face. “Besides, it was low on gas, so he’ll end up refilling it for her.”

“I see.” Edd nodded, looking around the interior with caution.

“Will you stop acting like my truck is gonna blow? You’re givin her bad luck!” She laughed and Edd shook his head slowly, still uneasy.

“It’s statistically impossible for this truck not to have some mechanical mishap befall it. I simply wish not to be trapped inside when it should happen.”

“Whatever D. Ignore him, baby. He’s just being a jerk today.” She cooed at her truck, patting the dash again.

“Marie! Hands on the steering wheel at all times, at the ten and two positions please!”

“D! Relax, I got this!” She replied before slamming on the breaks and jerking the pair forward. He glared at her and she gave him a sheepish smirk.

“Almost ran the red light.”

“Your performance thus far as only strengthened my belief in your abilities.” He replied with sarcasm.

“Thanks, I try hard, you know?” She sassed back with an arched brow, pulling off when the light turned green.

“So let me guess. Jason flaked on you. Again.”

“Indeed.” Edd agreed in disdain, recalling his initial frustration moments before her arrival.

“What’s up with him lately, D. You guys okay?” She glanced over at him. “Do I need to punch him?”

He sighed. “There is no need for violence, though I appreciate your continued determination to punch my boyfriend on my behalf.”

“Hey, no prob! He’s got a pretty punchable face!”

“As for whether we are connecting well as of late, I have to be honest Marie. I don’t know. Lately he has taken to his music and his performances and simply does not seem to have time for me anymore.”

“Why not go to one of his gigs?”

“I have tried. They are...” he shuddered, recalling the packed rooms at the tiny venue, the obsessive drinking, the random ass grabs from fellow patrons, and the horror of an unknown throwing up on the back of his head before knocking him into a speaker. “...uncomfortable.”

“So talk to him.” She suggested.

“I have tried. He seems to think that there is nothing wrong. To the point of disinterest in my concerns.”

“Break up with him.”

He glared.

“Marie...”

“I’m serious D. The two of you have zero in common anyway.” She insisted, eyes on the road as she pulled up to another red light.

“You’re more like his mom than his boyfriend half the time and now he’s ditching you for his hobby. Not cool.”

“He’s just very motivated by his music, as I can be about my academics. I shouldn’t begrudge him for that.”

“Making excuses.” Marie sighed out with an upward inflection.

“He’s always been very laid back in his approach to everything. Even our relationship.”

“Accepting unacceptable behavior.”

“He’s hot and I like when he sings to me with tight pants and a guitar.” Edd snapped sarcastically in annoyance.

“...Letting your dick make stupid decisions for you. Gotcha.” Marie replied in matter of fact calmness.

“Marie Annabelle Kanker—"

“Whoa! No need for full government names, the feds could be listening and my sisters and I are probably on a list!” She joked.

“I’m being serious!”

“So am I Edd! You’re too good for that slacker and you know it!” She snapped in earnest, all traces of joking around gone. “Maybe at first, things were cool and I know you don’t have a lot of experience dating but stop ignoring the red flags! Something’s up D, and you should pull out before you get hurt.”

Ears ringing and frustrated, he glared out of the window at the various familiar landmarks.

_‘She may be right, but I don’t simply want to give up on our relationship. I am sure we can talk things out. Perhaps that was what he wished to speak with me about. Maybe he as noticed a strain in our union and wants to address and proper mend it.’_

Marie reached over and attempted to click on the radio, grumbling a curse at it under her breath when it refused to cooperate and clicked the static-like mess back off.

“So is that what you were doing this morning? Dealing with Jason?” She asked in a calmer tone.

Edd glanced over at her and bit his bottom lip before shaking his head. “Not exactly. I did speak with Jay and he did wish to speak with me after school, which was why I was awaiting his arrival today, but he is not the reason for my tardiness.”

“So what, Eddy have some scheme to get outta ‘prison’?” She joked and he snorted.

“No. He surprisingly has not asked for assistance in any of his usual shenanigans.”

“Then what happened?” She asked curiously.

_‘Should I tell her? Hmm. Just the minute of details. Nothing to betray Kevin’s trust.’_

“Kevin came to my home in need of assistance.”

“Kevin what?!” She screeched as she glared at him in shock. She made a sharp turn and he pointed at the street.

“Marie! The road Marie! Watch the road, please!”

“Right!” She snapped, quickly turning her attention back and keeping her eyes planted there. “What the hell was he doing there?!”

“Visiting.” He responded as he attempted to calm his nerves.

“Why?” She pressed. “Since when were you two so close?”

“It has nothing to do with our closeness Marie,” he explained, trying not to blush recalling their hug and Kevin’s outpouring of emotion. “He simply needed help with something and I assisted.”

“Well give me details! What did he need? Why you? How long was he there? He didn’t come to school today, so I guess it was pretty bad or somethin?”

He remembered how Kevin had been earlier that morning. Looking completely downtrodden and worse for wear.

“He had clearly been through something, yes, but wished not to divulge the details. Out of respect for his privacy, I shall refrain for doing so as well, the little that I am aware of,” Edd lied partially with a stern glare, indicting the subject matter was to be dropped.

Marie sighed and rolled her eyes, adjusting her rear view mirror. “Whatever, D. Just so ya know, I’m tellin Nazz.”

“Do as you wish.” He responded curtly. “If Kevin wishes to address her on the matter, I am certain he will do so. But I will not give her, or you, any details that I possess.”

“What the heck is with the colder shoulder today?!” She groaned melodramatically.

“I do not mean to be rude, I assure you. Just firm. I can not divulge information that is not mine to give.” Edd replied.

“Fine, fine whatever. Just as long as you’re okay.”

Not following her meaning, he offered her a quizzical look and understanding, Marie continued.

“I’ve seen the way that d-bag’s been actin lately. Biting everyone’s head off, moping around, just bein a real drag.” She explained. “You’ve seen how he’s treated Nazz. Just been acting like a real dick to her for a while now. She’s been obsessing over it for like the past month.”

Marie’s hand gripped the steering wheel. “I hate seeing her so unhappy.”

Edd gave her a quick sympathetic look before looking inquisitive again.

“I understand your concern Marie, but what does this have to do with your concern for my well being with Kevin.” Edd pressed.

“I just wanted to make sure he wasn’t treating you like shit is all. Taking advantage. Nothing stupid I’d have to punch his lights out for.” She replied matter of factly and Edd gave her a bewildered but affectionate smile.

“I assure you, I am fine Marie. There is no need to resort to any violence. Kevin seemed quite receptive to my presence.”

 _‘He should. He was in my home by choice after all.’_ His mind drifted to imagine the redhead laying on his couch. ‘I hope he managed to make things right with his parents.’

She nodded but didn’t seem thoroughly convinced.

“Well alright then. I just know he called Nazz today and she wouldn’t shut up about it in art class.” She complained. “She was worried sick since his mom called her and he’s been duckin her calls all wee—oh you son of a cock sucking piece of shit!”

“Marie!” Edd exclaimed, the ends of his ears reddening as he stared at her in bewilderment.

“There is no need to use such vile vulgarities!”

“He cut me off! He’s lucky I don’t get outta my truck and use him as a dashboard decoration!” She snarled, throwing up her middle finger at the offending car.

“There was still no need to display your admittedly impressive display of colorful insults!” Edd insisted and Marie shrugged undisturbed.

“Then tell these assholes not to cut me off.” She said simply, speeding up and making a sharp turn to the right while cutting off the same car that had done so to her previously, giving the driver another middle finger without directly looking as them when she passed by. She cackled as she heard the screeching of their breaks.

Edd facepalmed as he held the dashboard to steady himself. “Why do I insist on taking rides with you or Eddy? Your constant barrage of vulgar insults, refusal to adhere to the basic rules and regulations of road safety, and treating of the speed limits as a mere suggestion are all endangerment’s to my general health and well being!”

“Because your stupid boyfriend’s a forgetful chump and despite your bitching, you don’t like walkin alone.” Marie stated matter of factly.

Edd sighed in defeat. “Fair enough.”

“Just you wait, D. When you start driving everywhere, I’m getting a bag of popcorn and a camcorder! Can’t wait to see you try and drive with these idiots and not break out into a ‘barrage of vulgarities’!” Marie snorted.

“I have had plenty of driving practice and successfully completed my driver’s education course. Never once have I felt the urge to explode in a fountain of curses or exit my vehicle and assault my fellow motorist like you or Eddy!” Edd exclaimed with pride.

“Pfft, whatever D.” Marie replied with an eyeroll. “Back to that douchebag though. So help me, he called Nazz over and does anything to hurt her, I’m going to his house. And I’m bringing my sisters.”

Edd gave her an exasperated sigh. “Marie...”

The truck jerked to a sudden stop hard, snapping the pair forward and back with enough force to bump their heads on the back of their headrests.

“Oh my!” Edd exclaimed in pain, rubbing the back of his head and looking over at Marie alarmed.

“Are you—“

“I’m fine, I’m fine! You okay?”

“A little pain to the head but I am certain I will survive.”

“Good.” Marie said simply as the pair watched large puffs of smoke erupt from the hood of the car.

The pair stared blankly at it for a moment as another large popping sound flooded their ears and the truck gave another jerk, this time downward as if a tire had deflated.

“Marie, perhaps we should—”

“Yeah.”

The pair exited the old truck, Edd pausing momentarily next to it to adjust his shoulder bag, only to jump and flee behind Marie when it made a large hissing sound.

“Marie, I believe your truck as broken down!”

“You don’t think I know that Edd?!” She snapped aggressively and he shrunk back a bit. She caught it out of her peripheral vision and sighed.

“Something musta blown out or something.” She explained, making an effort to sound calmer despite her obvious anger. “It’s a real piece of shit, so it coulda been anything.”

As he nodded, a bellow of black smoke erupted from the hood of the vehicle, accompanied by a loud ‘bang!’.

Edd gently pulled Marie a few steps further away just in case the truck decided to follow it’s obvious predestined path and explode or something similarly dreadful.

“How the hell am I suppose to get money to fix this?!” She exclaimed angrily and Edd shook his head. “You shouldn’t. That money would be better spent receiving a different mode of transportation. One that is more...reliable.”

_‘And less likely to burst into a ball of flames as if we were in one of Eddy’s preferred action movies.’_

The pair stood watching the truck in silence, flinching a little when another tire popped and deflated.

 _‘How did that thing even move?! Marie must have used luck as an energy source alone—oh my.’_ Edd thought as Marie pulled at her hair, letting out a shriek in fury and storming over to the driver’s side tire, began kicking it aggressively repeatedly.

 _‘Such a...commanding use of such abhorrent language.’_ Edd contemplated as she continued kicking, now screaming obscene expletives as his face reddened with each passing one. _‘Eddy would be admirably jealous.’_

Edd saw a car slowing to a stop as it pulled up behind the pair and he looked over, his heart dropping into his stomach as he took a step back.

It was the same car that cut Marie off while the pair had been driving.  The door swung open and an individual partially exited, leaning on the hood of their car as they simply watched the scene, particularly Marie with amusement.  Edd continued to watch motorist cautiously until a loud clanking pop made him look over at Marie. The rim on the tire had successfully been kicked loose and now rolled passed him and down the street to freedom with three sets of eyes following it.

It was watched for a moment before the motorist turned their attention back to Marie.  “That’s what you get for cutting me off!” The occupant of the Volkswagen beetle laughed as they fully exited the car fully.

Edd got a good look then.

Short light blond hair with most of it’s length stacked to the left front side, with fair skin and a face littered with light freckles, particularly across the bridge of the nose and cheeks.

Lean with very little to no musculature, or at least Edd assumed as the individual wore a white and greenish baggy hoodie with skinny jeans.

Marie turned to to face the individual, fist balled up at her sides and face full of frightening amounts of rage.

“Listen here you little shit fucking hoober—"

She faltered, her face lighting up with recognition and relief as a smirk broke over her features and she jogged over, punching the individual in the arm before the pair shared a quick hug.

 _‘Well that’s certainly one way to end what otherwise could have been a spectacular spectacle of road rage!’_ Edd thought as he stared at the pair in bewilderment, the two chatting as they made their way over to him.

“D, this is Alex!” Marie exclaimed, putting the individual in a head lock and burying her knuckle in their scalp, Alex flinching and shrugging her off as she laughed.

“Alex fixes up my hair!”

“Attempts are made. Progress, not so much.” was the blond’s response, as a head was inclined in Edd’s direction as a greeting.

Marie rolled her eyes. “Shut it! Speaking of that, what happened to your hair?”

“I dyed and cut it. Your girlfriend gave me an idea and sorta became like a muse. A bouncy, preppy, sugar rush induced muse.” Alex replied, hands in their hoodie pocket as brown eyes began to look over Edd.

“So you’re Double D.”

Edd nodded, giving a shy, small wave. “Hello. I see Marie as informed you of my existence.”

“A few times.” Alex admitted, shooting Marie a side smirk. “She likes to fuss over you and judge all your siggies. You know. Like a Mom.”

“Hush!” Marie snapped and Edd frowned in confusion. “Erm, what is a ‘siggy’?”

“Significant other.” Alex said simply with a shrug. “Jason must suck cause she never shuts up about him.” Marie took off her shoe and tossed it directly at the back of Alex’s head, making the blond flinch in pain.

“Bitch, don’t fuck up my hair! I have an exam on it later!” Alex snapped, shooting Marie the finger before tossing the shoe back. Marie shot it back while sticking her out between her teeth, slipping her shoe back on.

Edd only watched with mild concern, saying nothing.

“Sorry bout cutting you off earlier.” Marie replied not sounding the least bit apologetic as the trio moved a bit closer to the broken down truck.

“Didn’t recognize you in the car. What happened to the jeep?”

“In Mom’s shop, getting an oil change and a tire job.” Alex said simply. “I’m borrowing this one for the day. The owner won’t be back for it til next week.”

Edd made an incredulous face then raised a finger as he cut in. “Excuse my intrusion to the conversation, but is your mother aware of your absconding of her client’s property?”

The pair glanced back at Edd while Alex professed outrage. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?!”

Edd stared in bewilderment as Marie hit Alex in the chest with an annoyed suck of her teeth. “Stop pickin on him. He’s an upstanding citizen that doesn’t know the ways of grand theft.”

“Grand theft!?” Edd exclaimed in horror and panic, taking a few steps back and pulling at his hat while Alex snorted. “Relax! My dog knows I got the car! He can tell my Mom!”

“Dear lord!” Edd cries to himself as he began to pace in a small circle.

_‘Marie has gotten me tangled up in a automobile incident, a confrontation, and with a common criminal in a matter of minutes!’_

There was a light poke to his arm and he jumped startled then backed away when he realized it was Alex, who put a pair of hands up in defense.

“Chill, Double Dude,” Alex sighed. “I’m taking the car for a test drive to make sure all the repairs worked out. My Mom knows I got it.”

Alex gave him a warm smile and a hard pat on the back before walking back over to Marie’s ruined truck. “You’re right, he pretty cool. Needs a sense of humor though.”

Edd stared blankly, hands slowly lowering from the sides of his head.

“More like he’s smart enough to be terrified of you! You’re the worst!” Marie teased, shooting him a wink as she turned to face the now smokeless truck.

“Bitch, I’m the best!”

“At what? Almost crashing someone’s car with your shitty driving skills?” Marie sneered as she reached into her truck and pulled out a few items from the arm rest compartment between the front seats.

“Hey, I’m not the one trying to pick a fight and going around calling people ‘hoobers’! What the actual hell is a ‘hoober’? What, did you run out of words and have to start making up insults?” Alex teased.

“I got your ‘hoober’ right here, ass! You still cut me off first and didn’t say sorry or nothin!” Marie insisted aggravated and Alex gave her a playfully sympathetic smirk.

“Fine, fine. I’m not a monster. Tell you what. I’ll give you guys a lift wherever and in the meantime, I’ll call my Mom and see if she’ll tow it the shop. Maybe she can patch it up until you can get something less disgusting.” Alex shrugged.

“Great! D, let’s go!” Marie announced already heading for the car Alex road up in.

“Yeah, you can ride on the hood. I’ll give you a hula skirt n everything.” Alex announced, hitting him on the back as they strolled by towards the car.

 _‘I have a feeling I may regret this.’_ Edd sighed to himself, slowly walking towards the car but hesitating to get in to the back seat. He peered in it from the window at the passenger side while Marie buckled herself in. The car was well kept and clean, so at least there was that.

“Are you certain of this Marie?” Edd asked wearily grateful that he wouldn’t have to walk the rest of the way, though still a little weary of riding with a stranger. Particular one as peculiar as this.

“Relax D. Alex can drop you off first since we’re close to your place. That way I won’t hold you up any longer with my bull than I got to!” Marie smiled.

Alex gave a pout. “Then who’s gonna help me get the body outta of the back while you dig the hole?”

“Quiet you! That’s why we’re getting Nazz!” Marie hushed her and Alex gave an apologetic flinch while smiling sheepishly.

Edd sighed and shaking his head, climbed into the back seat. “I relinquish all knowledge of the transgressions the two of you commit. Know this.”

“What’s that? You’re the perfect alibi? Good, knew I’d like you.” Alex responded and waited for Edd to buckle himself in before starting up the car.

“Now how do I use that stick thingy again...” Alex muttered to themselves, staring around the dashboard then at the stick shift in utter confusion.

 _‘I completely regret this decision already.’_ Edd winced to himself as he bit his lip, trying not to show his unease.

Alex glanced up in the rear view mirror. “You don’t, like, get motion sick easily, do ya?”

Edd only glared back worried.

“Imma take that as a resounding ‘maybe’.” Alex smirked as the car pulled away from the curb and back into traffic, ignoring Marie’s glared. “Will you stop trying to terrify him, you goon!”

“But he’s soooooo easy.” Alex mocked lyrically, glancing up in the rear view mirror and smirking at Edd’s unease.

Marie gave a hard, warning glare and Alex sighed in defeat. “Alright, alright. I’ll lay off.” There was a pause. “Besides I’ll know where he lives now. I can just stalk him there.”

“Christ.” Marie facepalmed as Edd gave a huff in annoyance and pointed at the playground they were quickly approaching.

“Please release me right there.” Edd announced curtly. “Next to the lane by the playground.

Alex gave Marie, who glared back daggers, a grimace of guilt before pulling over as requested. Edd climbed out and Alex leaned out of the window as he shut the door.

“Uh, so, sorry about all that Double D,” Alex offered with an apologetic smile and he glared back in annoyance but said nothing. Alex reached into their glove compartment and pulling something out, flicked it at Edd. He flinched back and tried to duck his head out of the way but it still managed to hit its mark, landing on the top of his hatted head with barely a thud. “I promise I’ll behave next time. Seriously, get home safe!”

“I’m punching you in the gut if you bother him next time!” He heard Marie growl to Alex as the car backed up and turning around, heading away from the the cul-de-sac.

With trepidation, Edd slowly reached up and took the object off of his head. His face scrunched in confusion.

An old silver dollar.

_‘Strange individual.’_

Edd shook his head as he placed the coin into his pocket and began to walk the short distance towards his home.

That was until he looked up and saw Kevin sitting out on his porch, in a white form fitting tank top and khaki cargo sports and a pair of red Converse sneakers to match his hat.

The older teen paid him no attention as he busily texted on his cell, a light frown of concentration on his face.

_‘He did not attend school today, as I figured he would not. I wonder if he is feeling any better after this morning.’_

He felt his feet moving before he’d begun to process it, looking both ways as he crossed the road instead of going to his own residence.


	5. Two Dorks on a Porch

“I hope everything went well with his parents.” Edd said to himself as he made his way to Kevin’s home.

The redhead looked up briefly, staring at Edd with momentary surprise before fixing his features to express his usual brand of aloof indifference. He focused on staring off into the distance towards Nazz’s place, set on ignoring his approaching guest and the constant pings of urgency from his cell.  Unaware of the attempted shunning, Edd stepped on to the nicely furnished porch, shifting his shoulder bag before taking it off, placing it down next to the empty chair directly across from the redhead. With a soft clear of his throat, Edd gave Kevin his most engaging smile. “Salutations Kevin!”

He didn’t answer immediately nor did he look up. Edd, unsure he’d been heard, started to call upon him again when Kevin growled in annoyance just as his phone once again sounded off, vibrating in his hand. He sent the call to voicemail while inclining his head toward Edd just slightly.

Edd took in his appearance, not surprised. His normally twinkling green eyes were still red with irritation and dulled with a tired edge. His face looked exhausted along with its annoyed state.

“Hey. What do you want.” Kevin demanded flatly, glaring hatefully at his cell for a second as it pinged with life again before putting it in his pocket. Edd started a little, taken aback by the impersonal and slightly rude tone.

“Oh! Umm, I apologize for the intrusion! I simply wanted to check on your well being.”

“I’m okay.” Kevin responded dryly, not bothering to look at Edd anymore.

Edd in turn, bit his bottom lip, not entire sure what to do or how to feel. So he stood around, the awkward air between them making him feel foolish and nervous. After a few more minutes of silence, he reached down to grab his shoulder bag and head home.

 _‘Am I wrong? Did I mistaken our seemingly closer bond this morning?’_ He looked over at the redhead, before he started walking off the porch. _‘Did my attempts to help him address his issues instead further alienate our relationship?  Perhaps seeing him in such a weakened state led to some form of resentment.’_

Kevin, fidgeting with his cellphone as yet another text came through, looked up.  Realizing that Edd was actually leaving, he fumbled the phone almost dropping it.  He quickly shoved it in his pocket and sat up straight. “Hey, Double D, wait!”

As told, Edd paused on the bottom step, looking back at Kevin with an even, unreadable expression while Kevin watched on with an overwhelming sense of remorse. He rubbed the back of neck, gesturing toward the seat next to him. “If you still wanna stay, I could use the company. I didn’t mean—”

He paused once he noticed Edd already sitting, placing his shoulder bag back down by his feet.

“Uh, right. Hey look, I’m sorry. Today is just really an off day but it doesn’t mean I get to take it out on you. Not after everything you’ve done. It’s not cool.” He ignored the series of notification sounds erupting from his pocket as he continued, focusing on Edd. “I just really want you to stop worrying over me. I’m sure you got your own crap to keep up with.”

“Perhaps and I do apologize for any unwarranted forwardness.” Edd explained, settling himself and placing his hands in his lap. He gave Kevin what he hoped was a reassuring and kind smile despite his encroaching bought of nervousness. “I simply wished to see for myself that you doing better after our unexpected rendezvous this morning.”

“I know, I get it. I promise, I’m fine.”

“I most certainly beg to differ.” Edd responded, “With all due respect, you haven’t been yourself lately, nor are you ‘fine’ now.”

“Pfft, I always look good.” Kevin half joked and Edd cut him a look that asked him to be serious. Kevin gestured with his hand for Edd to agree, even a little and getting no such response, he agreed begrudgingly with Edd’s previous assertion as he stood up and stretched out his arms.

 _‘His freckles are more pronounced when he’s in emotional distress.’_ Edd noted, shifting in his seat a little then fluffing the cushion to get comfortable. Kevin watched him amused as he took his seat and Edd suddenly became self conscious of his actions.

“I guess I just…don’t know how to feel about you right now.” Kevin admitted. “I mean, I get what you said earlier. About us having a bond strong enough for you to care about me and junk. I think it’s pretty rad. It’s just…I mean…”  Kevin’s expression softened dramatically, and he made a point to look away from Edd, towards the rest of the cul-de-sac again. Edd noticed the light flush on Kevin’s cheeks he was trying to hide and forced back the grin that wanted to erupt over his face. _‘I find my ability to bring out such reactions in Kevin interesting.’_

“Thanks.” The redhead stated uncharacteristically humble, giving Edd an earnest look of gratitude. The latter nodded before looking down at his fingers as he entangled them together.

“If you are uncomfortable with the notion of my caring for your well being, then we can just reconcile my want of being here as my attempt to do so on behalf of our mutual friend Nazz.” Edd suggested quietly. “Despite your cantankerous relationship as of late, I would assume she would be worried over your current predicament.”

“She is.” Kevin admitted, a touch of guilt reaching his eyes before it was blinked away. Then he inclined his head towards Edd. “And I like the idea of you caring about me, Double Dork. Without Nazz.”

Edd gave him a small, sweet smile. “I see. Alright then.” Kevin gave him a confident smirk in return that Edd knew all too well. “Besides, it makes me feel special having the most likable dork in school fanboying over me.”

“A fanboy, I am not.” Edd corrected him quickly, eyebrow raised with a look of objection.

“Okay fine, a personal cheerleader then.” Kevin insisted, leaning back in his chair and placing an arm behind his head while gesturing with the other as he continued. “I can see if Nazz’ll grab you a pair of pompoms. Get you a uniform that says ‘Kev’s dork’ on it. I start feeling down, you just give me one of your speeches and shake em ‘round to cheer me up!” Kevin exclaimed, his smile widening before he burst into laughter.

The mere thought of Edd in a cheerleading skirt, shaking pompoms, while reciting self help advice—or better yet—algebraic equations? …Not bad actually. He certainly had the legs for it.  And ass, if Kevin was being honest with himself.  Still, he found the notion hilarious. The subject of his thoughts only stared at him with a sly grin of his own. “ ‘Your dork’, hm? Why _Kevin_! I hadn't realized you were using possessive terminology in reference to me now!”

The laughter stopped abruptly and Kevin stared at him with a confused sneer. He played back his words carefully to himself, eyes widening in realization as he immediately attempted to correct what he meant. Edd watched him with unapologetic amusement as Kevin began tripping over his words.  ' _Oh, I have him gesturing with both hands now!’_   Edd giggled to himself, his smile widening to show his gap teeth as he continued to enjoy Kevin flustering about. He babbled on, continuing his impromptu impersonation of a Muppet before Edd finally held up his hand, fighting back a snicker. “Relax Kevin. I completely understood the platonic nature you meant to convey.”

Kevin settled down, doing his best not to look as embarrassed as he felt. Edd began to laugh openly behind his hand now, Kevin glaring a moment until he reached forward and poked him in the ribs, making him yelp undignified. Kevin snorted as Edd crossed his arms over his chest. “Happy now, I suppose?”

“You bet, dork.” Kevin sighed content as the pair leaned back comfortably in their chairs. Edd took the moment to change the subject, in hopes of keeping the mood light for the time being.

“What is your obsession with the term ‘dork’?”Kevin looked confused. “What obsession? I just like the word.”

“I understand that Kevin, what I mean to ask is what is your affinity for constantly using it.”

Kevin shrugged. “It just works well and kinda sticks, you know? People can be dorks, places and things can be dorky, actions can be dorkish...you get it.”

“You find the word has a lot of versatility in your day-to-day use.” Edd reasoned and Kevin smiled. “See? Got it. It's better then what you do, anyway.”

“Beg your pardon? What I do?”

“Come on, dude. All those big words you use all the time? For like, no reason?” He gave Edd an exhausted look. “Honestly half the time you speak, I think everyone just nods and agrees cause they got no idea what you’re saying. How those other two dorks can follow any of it is amazing to be honest. Especially Ed.”

“Sometimes, I think he hears the adult speech patterns from Charlie Brown when I speak to him.” Edd admitted in contemplation and Kevin chortled in agreement. “Probably. As for me, I just catch the gist and roll with it.”

“Well, I apologize for my use of complicated language.” Edd replied sarcastically. “Perhaps I should follow your method of taking one word and applying several different meanings to it, whether it is applicable or not.”

“Hey, don’t be jealous cause I get a lot of mileage with ‘dork’, Double Dork.” Kevin defended with a taunting smirk. “Jealousy was never a good look on you.”

“I am hardly jealous of your limited vocabulary. Though I applaud your determination to get the most out of the few words you do have in your arsenal.” Edd shot back.

“You’re so jealous.” Kevin persisted and Edd gave him challenging look. “Alright then, regale me: to prove your point, define the difference between ‘a dork’ and ‘a dork’.”

“A ‘dork’ is an uncool loser that does loser things, and is super annoying to be around. For examples, see Eddie.” Kevin began with an air of arrogance as Edd continued to stare at him in doubt. “A _‘dork’_ is someone who, while they may be odd in some ways, can be super chill and cool to be around. For example, see you.” He finished confidently, changing the inflection each time he said the word ‘dork’ to indicate the difference.

Edd snorted lightly as he adverted his gaze, amused by the explanation at first, then by the overtly proud way Kevin waited expectantly for some form of praise for it. “Well…your dedication to the word is certainly admirable at least.”

“I’m pretty good that like. You’re welcome, by the way.”

“Kevin?”

“Yep?”

“...You’re such a dork.” Edd announced while holding out his hand toward him.

Kevin balked. “Like, a ‘dork’ or a _‘dork’_?”

“A dork.” Edd said simply, purposely refusing to use any inflection in his voice to indicate a difference as he pointed to Kevin’s wrists.  “May I?”

Kevin glared at him before with a moody pout, he took one of his hands and placed it in Edd’s.  “You better have meant a _dork_ , you _dork_.” He heard Kevin grumbling under his breath annoyed and Edd rolled his eyes as he unwrapped his wrist to inspect it. With a click of his tongue and an inquisitive hum, he sat the wrist in his lap momentarily before rummaging in his hat, pulling out a travel sized first-aid kit a moment later.

Kevin blinked at him, dumbfounded, eyes trained on that trademark knit cap. Edd noticed and simply smiled. “One can never know when you will need sanitary or medical necessities.” Edd reasoned politely and Kevin shook his head, pointing directly at the hat now. “ ** _How_ ** do you fit so much crap in there?” He questioned astonished. “I mean I guess you have hair under there, maybe?  But I’ve seen you pull extra pencils, notebooks, an _entire_ tool box once and just— _so_ much random shit!”

“Language.”

“Crap, whatever. You did it when we were younger too! How do you make it work?”

“When you have a commanding understanding of certain sciences, you’d be surprised by what you can accomplish!” Edd exclaimed proudly, taking Kevin’s hand again.

“Can…you take-”

“Absolutely not.” Edd started in a pleasantly stern fashion as he began cleaning the effected area with various substances, re-wrapping the wrists once he was finished. Kevin still had his eyes trained on the hat, shifting his eyes to glance at Edd to see if he were paying attention to him. Seeing him engrossed with his wrist, he slowly turned his attention back to the hat as he inched his free hand toward it.

Edd simply paused then gently smacked the top of Kevin’s hand who snapped it back with a hiss of pain while shaking it. “Please refrain from all attempts to remove my hat.” He warned in a firm, polite way with an air of icy resolve before returning to tend to Kevin’s wrist. “One day.” Kevin promised and Edd quickly cut his eyes to glare upward at him. “Anytime soon? I certainly doubt it.”

As they sat for a few moments in silence, Edd questioned whether he wanted to chance souring the mood with the line of questioning he’d been waiting to put forth. Knowing it was an inevitability, he sighed. “So,” he started with a clearing of his throat. “how did the conversation with your parents go?”

Kevin let out a mirthless laugh but retained his lighter mood. “About what I expected. Grounded for a while. Technically, shouldn’t have visitors right now, but since they went out to shop and whatever, I’m taking advantage.”

“And Logan?”

Kevin stiffened noticeable, eyes glancing subconsciously to the pocket that housed his phone. “What about him?”

“Were you honest with them about him?”

Silence. Edd looked disappointed. “…You’ll have to tell them eventually.”

“Maybe,” Kevin muttered, looking far more bitter than he had before. “If we’re gonna be dating anymore.”

“So you broke up with him?” Edd asked hopefully and when he got no immediate response, he felt a rock in the pit of his stomach as his face fell. “Kevin? Have you already broken up with Logan or at least made plans to start the process to do so?”

When he refused to answer again, Edd let out a another sigh of disappointment. “Do you… _want_ to break up with him right now? Kevin?”

Kevin’s right leg began to bounce just like this morning and he adverted his eyes to the street just as Jimmy bounced his way down the sidewalk, pompoms in hand and Sarah in toe. The two younger teens sent the pair a wave before returning to their own excited exchange.  Kevin turned back to face Double D, who had a look that reminded him so much of his mother, it was a little unnerving. “Look, I don’t know, alright? After I got back and spoke with Mom and Dad, I called him and we talked. He told me what happened.”

“And?”

“I...still don’t believe him.” Kevin admitted and let out an uneasy, angry snort. “He’s leaving some stuff out but he at least admitted Tyler was there this time. I’m upset about it and all but, I dunno. We’ve got a lot of history, and he seemed real sorry when he realized how much it bothered me, Double D.”

“You can't trust him,” Edd pressed, holding the hand of the wrist he has been checking and giving it along with his palm, a light squeeze. “or the fact that he may not do it again. What he did—Kevin, I could careless how he has described or justified it to you, but even without whatever unorthodox pleasantries this Tyler may bring to these events, what he did was wrong. The fact that he will not properly own up to it fully should speak volumes.”

Kevin began to speak but Edd cut him off. “Please. I will hear no more defense of his actions or assertions that you are only to blame. I can not stress enough how you should not do this to yourself. You deserve someone who will treat you as a truly equal partner. That respects all of your boundaries and prioritizes your safety, trust, and well being above whatever he may desire.” Edd gave a little smile of encouragement. “Someone you would willing want to tell your parents about and introduce to them to as your significant other instead of as just a ‘friend’ or your ‘tutor’.”

The pair turned their attention to Kevin’s pocket as his phone once again sent out a incessant wave of buzzing and beeps. Kevin gave Edd an apologetic look. “I didn’t want to chance missing Mom or Dad calling me since I’m already in enough trouble.” He stated as he finally took it out of his pocket and put it on silent, placing it back where it was.

“Who has been attempting to contact you then?” Edd inquired, knowing with the way Kevin had been treating the constant disturbances who it may be. “Logan,” Kevin admitted as Edd’s hand slipped to hold his hand fully now, firmly. “ He's been trying to call me back since our talk this morning. I don’t want to until I know what I’m gonna say. Or do.”

“You know what you should do." Edd insisted despite Kevin's obvious uncertainty.  "Just let your past be your past. Remember it fondly if you must, but don’t use it as a driving force to make a potentially bad decision. You frequently flaunt your confidence and have a high opinion of self worth. Have it now. Know when someone who would do such a thing to you is not worthy of your affection.”

He said nothing more as the pair shared a look between them, Kevin slowly returning the hand squeeze with a grateful smile as Edd felt an odd assortment of flutters in his stomach.

“Thank you, Double Dude, maybe he’ll finally listen to someone!” A voice called to their left and both instantly broke the hand hold as they turned their attention to Nazz. The bubbly blond stood in her Peach Creek cheerleading work shirt and matching shorts, thigh high striped socks and white sneakers. A matching duffel bag with the school’s logo on the side hung on her shoulder as she stood with her hip poked out and arms crossed over her chest.

She said nothing of the hand hold, though dutifully filed it away for later as she gave Kevin a knowing, annoyed glare. He stood, taking a in deep breath and rubbing the back of his neck.

“Uh, so hey.” He started softly, not meeting her gaze anymore as he looked at his feet. She sighed, rolling her eyes and with a smile that seemed to indicate she thought he wasn’t a _complete_ idiot, opened her arms and pulled him into a hug he immediately accepted. Edd smiled, happy for the pair as he clasped his hands together in his lap. A car honk grabbed the trio’s attention and they looked up to see Marie and Alex sitting in the same car they’d dropped Edd off in earlier.

“See? Best behavior!” Alex called out to Double D who gave a halfhearted wave back, arching an unsure brow at the driver. “Take care of my girl or I’ll deck your lights out, you dick!” Marie shouted at Kevin while giving him the finger, leaning over Alex to do so as she ducked down to see better him better.

“Whatever Kanker!” Kevin scuffed back, pulling out of the hug and staring curiously at Nazz. “Really?”

“We just connect, you know?” Nazz smiled sweetly as she waved the pair on. “I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Sure thing, Dollface!” Marie called as Alex shoved her off by the face, pulling into Kevin’s driveway to turn around. Marie smacked Alex over the head hard before glaring at Kevin again, narrowing her eyes and gesturing that she would be watching him as Alex pulled out of the driveway.  With an duel eye roll from both Kevin and Alex at Marie, who now was busy sharing a hearty hand wave with Edd, the blond drove away.

“You could do so much—”

“Glass houses, Kev.” Nazz warned quickly, giving him a hard look. “She may be a lot of things, but she’s considerate, and super supportive and just the best.” She shifted her bag before folding her arms back over her chest, giving Kevin an accusatory glare. “She’s been helping me through this whole Logan thing.” Kevin looked guilty then puzzled. “For how long?”

“About a week after you decided we shouldn’t be friends anymore.” Nazz admitted and Kevin instantly looked guilty again. She noticed and sighing, unfolded her arms and smacked him on the forearm. “Don’t sweat it, Kev. I’m here now, so let’s talk this out, okay? All of it.”

“Yeah, sure.” He agreed, no longer sounding as confident as he had when speaking with Edd. “Look…as long as your happy Nazz, that’s all that matters, okay?”

“Thanks,” she responded, already heading into his home, pausing to give Edd a small hug. “Now lets go get rid of that jackass of a boyfriend you have, _okay_?”

“Right,” Kevin frowned with trepidation, gazing at Edd for a moment who watched him back with mild concern. “ So, who was that driving?”

“Hmm?” Nazz asked over her shoulder pausing and Kevin pointed toward the Volkswagen as it disappeared around the corner. “That other blond. Who was that?”

“An utter nuisance.” Edd snapped under his breath in annoyance then covered his mouth, catching himself as Kevin smirked his way and Nazz snorted a giggle. “Alex is pretty harmless, just takes some getting used to being around.” Edd was having none of it. “You have to do no such thing to understand that Alex is an nuisance.” Edd insisted putting his own nose in the air haughtily. “With a horrible sense of humor at that.”

“So Eddy.” Kevin announced thoughtfully and Edd shot him an under-eyed look as Nazz began to yank him toward the house. “What!? It describes that dork to a tee!”

“Stop your stalling, Mr. Barr,” Nazz huffed in mockery while Edd agreed, giving Kevin a stern nod when he looked back over to him.. “You have an important conversation to have and limited time to do it in before the arrival of your parents, so you two need to get started.”

“Alright, alright, just give me a sec.” he called to Nazz as he lightly pulled his arm away from her. Relenting, she spared Edd a small goodbye wave with a smile before disappearing inside completely. Edd looked up at Kevin and seeing he was still very nervous, offered him a reassuring smile and a light touch on his upper arm.

“The two of you will be fine. The fact that she is here and willing to speak with you indicates so.”

“Yeah, I know.” Kevin admitted. “This whole Logan thing though. I don’t wanna make the wrong decision.”

“You won’t.” Edd assured him. “I believe you will do the right thing for yourself.”

“Nazz’ll cream me if I don’t.” Kevin joked and Edd smiled. “I normally don’t condone violence but in this case, I might make an exception.” Kevin feigned a horrified look and Edd returned a cheeky, innocent grin. “It’s all to help you of course.”

“Of course.” Kevin scoffed before slapping Edd on the shoulder, making him stumble a little before Kevin immediately grabbed him by the arms and pulled him closer to his chest to ground him. They stayed this way for a few minutes before Edd reluctantly pulled himself away slowly, ignoring that same kick up of fluttering in his stomach.

“Later dork.” Kevin said softly while he leaned in close enough for the pair to feel their breath on each others faces.  There was an awkward pause before he poked the tip of his nose with his index finger. With that, he made his way into his house and with one last look and a smile that Edd found decidedly charming, shut the front door.

Edd let out a sigh of relief as his cheeks reddened instantaneously, reaching down to grab his shoulder bag up and leave while Kevin leaned back on the front door, staring at the expectant blond who watched him while sipping a glass of water.

“He has a boyfriend, you know.” She replied casually and Kevin frowned. “So do I, Nazz.”

“Not much of one.”  Then she gave him the same hard glare from before. "And it better not be for much longer."

“Whatever, point is, It’s not like that.” He insisted, purposely avoiding her gaze as he instantly thought back to the warmth he felt when Edd held his hands. Or hugged him. Or just gave him that wonderful gaped tooth smile. “He was just helping me with stuff.”

“Stuff?”

“Logan. You have Marie, I have Edd.” He responded and Nazz looked outdone. “Hey, you had _me_ too, jerk! You just—”

“I know babe, I meant recently. Edd’s been helping me recently.” Kevin corrected himself.

“Oh, calling him ‘Edd’ now instead of ‘dork’?” She teased and Kevin only rolled his eyes and pointed up the short flight of stairs to suggest that she should go to his room, watching their subject by peeking through the blinds before following her. At the same time, Edd made his way off the porch.

“Eddward, relieve yourself of such lewd thoughts!” He scolded himself quietly. “One with a steady boyfriend should not be thinking of another in such a fashion. Especially while Kevin is going through such turmoil with his own significant other.” His chest swelled with hope. “Soon to be ex, for his sake, of course.”

He before he could begin to cross the street, he looked up toward his home and gawked in mild surprise.  There, parked by the curb next to his home, sat the very familiar van that belonged to his very wayward boyfriend.


	6. EndEdd (Part 1)

Edd continued to gawk at the van in bewildered resentment.

 _'What is he doing here, after he failed to pick me up from school?’_   He crossed the street and began walking over to the van. _‘How long has he been here? Was I that engrossed in my conversation with Kevin that I did not notice?’_

Once he got to the driver’s side, he cupped his hands to the glass and peeked in to see a sleeping Jason leaning on the steering wheel. He rolled his eyes a bit. Certainly, he hadn’t been here long enough to warrant falling asleep already. He knocked on the window lightly and when that didn’t stir Jason, moved to the the right side of the vehicle. With a little tugging and effort he was quite proud of, he was able to force the tricky passenger door open, the high school graduate waking out of his slumber with a start.

Edd only watched him in silence as he slammed the door shut, the pair wincing at the sound.

There was an awkward pause as Jason awoke into full awareness, offering Edd a sheepish grin as he stretched out his limbs. “You…never showed up at school.”

“Yeah,” Jason agreed and there was another awkward silence between the pair as Edd waited for an explanation. When he received none, he decided to chance a look around the van to see if Jason had at least kept his word about that. His face slowly morphed into that of jubilation. “It’s clean!” He exclaimed. Not just clean, but almost spotlessly so! He took in a deep breath and smelled nothing but fresh linen with the faintness of lemon.

“Jay, this is wonderful! A complete turn around from the horrifically germ invested death trap of this morning!” He beamed and Jason gave what passed for a hearty laugh for him. “Guess I picked up a few things from you after all.” Jason responded proudly before his face faltered a bit. “Hey. Sorry about not picking you up like I said I would.”

“It’s alright,” Edd lied. “I just assumed you became busy with your musical pursuits or simply forgot.”

Jason shook his head. “I didn’t forget. I was trying to bail.”

Edd’s own smile faltered slowly as his eyebrows furrowed. “You were attempting to get out of taking me home? What ever for?” Then he blushed, feeling guilty and embarrassed. “Was it because of my tirade about your van this morning?”

Jason shook his head. “No Double D. Remember how I said I wanted to talk to you?”

Edd nodded.

“Well, I’ve been meaning to do that for like a month now. I keep putting it off because I kinda didn’t want to. But I know I gotta do it now.”

A painfully slow knot began to form in the pit of Edd’s stomach as he continued to listen.

“I’m not going to college.” Jason stated. “I barely liked going to high school and it’ll only get in the way of my music. So I’m gonna take my chances and go on the road for a while with the band.”

Edd kept his breathing steady, but couldn’t help feeling disappointment. Jason had spoken once about continuing his education after graduating earlier in the month. From all accounts, he seemed novel to the idea of attending the local community college while waiting for Edd to graduate high school. Once he was accepted to the college of his choosing, Jason was suppose to transfer to the community college close by.  Then the pair would get an apartment so they could live together. Now with Jason saying he would not being attending a college of any kind and wanting to travel the road...

“I’ll be leaving in about a week.” Jason announced, now shifting to turn to look at Edd directly. His face remained calm and he had his usual, laid back demeanor about him. Edd relaxed a tad, feeling oddly relieved that his boyfriend didn’t seem distressed. He shifted a little in his seat, uncomfortably before he spoke. “I…suppose you must do as you deem best for you. I just...I would not be able to go out on the road with you.”

“I know, Double D. You still got a year left.” Jason replied. “I know how important education stuff is to you. I was never gonna ask you to leave.”

Edd gave him a grateful smile that masked his unease, still feeling out-of-sorts to the news. _‘Certainly, this is a setback for our relationship, however I am certain we can maintain a strong footing despite whatever distance he may put between us. He can be quite impulsive in his actions, so maybe by trusting in him to do this, he will realize the folly of not obtaining a further education.’_

Edd left out a shaky sigh. _‘And not moving our relationship forward.’_

“—someone else.”

“Excuse me?” Edd called out, snapping immediately out of his thoughts in bewilderment. His boyfriend stared a moment as he realized Edd hadn’t been listening and made a slight purse of his lips. Otherwise, he showed no signs of distress. He took Edd’s left hand in both of his. “I said about two months ago. While doing a set. I met this other guy.” Jason began.

Edd stared at him in shock. “Oh.” He said simply.

_‘No...’_

“We hit it off really well and he’s been encouraging me and music.”

‘ _Like a muse! Please tell me he only means this person is nothing more than a muse to him!_ ’ Edd thought desperately, feeling the sting of tears assaulting his eyes already.

“We both ended up at this birthday party last Saturday. He got a little wasted and gave me a kiss.”

Edd immediately began to rock himself lightly back and forth in an attempt to calm himself down, attempting and failing to keep his expression neutral.

“We didn’t take it any further but it made me realize that...I don’t think I can stay with you Double D.” Jason said finally. Edd let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding as the tears began to stream down his face. He said nothing, not sure he really knew what to say.

“I wanna see where this goes with him.” Jason continued casually. “He’s willing to travel with me while I do my gigs and we’re more, you know, in tune than you and I are. I like you, Double D. I really do, but if we stay together, I’m just gonna end up hurting you and I don’t wanna do that.”

“You mean, more than you already have,” Edd scoffed, correcting him in an higher octave than usual. “y-you’ve practically began another relationship with someone else, wish to end our own, and you had no intentions of hurting me?!”

“No.” Jason responded in that same calm, carefree demeanor as always, his expression completely unfazed by the words he was saying, hearing, or the obvious pain he was causing. It was becoming maddening to Edd. Here he was, willingly breaking his heart and he was explaining it all as if he was reciting one of his asinine list of song titles.

“I could be making a huge mistake and if I am, I'll come back. I dunno. I just don’t wanna risk sleeping with the guy while still being tied down to you.” Jason finished. Edd continued to sob, no longer caring for explanations or false slimmers of hope at salvaging their relationship in the future as he attempted to pull his hands away from his now ex-boyfriend.

“Release me at once!” He snapped angrily, glaring as Jason refused to let go. “You have no reason to hold on to me when you are insistent on letting me go in the first place. I no longer wish to be in your presence and I demand that you allow me that option!”

“Edd, come on, don’t be this way.” Jason responded and Edd stared at him as if he were insane, pausing in his struggles.

“Don’t be what way?! Angry? Betrayed? Hurt by your inability to care an once about me or our relationship?” He spat back vehemently.

“I mean, I cleaned the van,” Jay pointed out, looking around the enclosed space mildly annoyed “cause you complained. That should mean something, that cared enough and didn’t want you to be uncomfortable when we, you know, had this talk.”

“Oh my! How _thoughtful_ of you! _Forgive_ me for not being more appreciative of the clear sacrifice to your comfort you had to make.” Edd sneered indignantly. 

Jay stared at Edd, deciphering whether or not his rebuttal was serious before choosing to leave it alone. “You got it wrong. I do care about us, Edd. That’s why I wanna break up, cause if I stay, I know I’m gonna cheat. I can’t do that to you. Not after everything you’ve meant to me.”

“I just clearly don’t mean enough to matter more than some random groupie you met a month ago.” Edd snarled scornfully.

“Hey, that’s not cool. He’s not a groupie and it was two months ago.” Jason rebuffed.

Edd’s eyes flashed dangerously as his lips tightened in a very thin line, yanking his hand free finally in one hard, swift movement. He ignored the pain of accidentally hitting his hand on the dashboard before struggling to open the passenger side door, letting out a cry of frustration as it refused to budge.  Jason climbed out from his side and walking around, let him out, Edd almost hitting him with the door as he swung it wide and stormed off.

“Edd.”

He ignored him, focusing intently on getting into his home and leaving Jason and their semi-dysfunctional relationship behind him.

“Edd!” Jason called with a little more urgency as the raven haired junior fumbled for his house keys, dropping then catching them in mid air before jamming the largest one of the set in the round locking mechanism. He felt a hand grab his arm and he tried to pull away instantly, finally acknowledging the taller teen standing behind him.

“Leave me be!” He cried in anguish but Jason ignored him, pulling him into a tight hug and holding him there.

He fought. He struggled. Then he gave up and just let out all of his sorrow, sobbing uncontrollably as he clung to the first real boyfriend he had ever possessed. The one whom didn’t want to be with him anymore. The one he felt found him to be too inadequate to date and needed to be with someone else. The one who finally released him, giving him a soft peck on the cheek and a wordless goodbye as he shoved his hands in his pockets and departed back to his van, leaving Edd to only watch him as he finally drove away, disappearing around the corner and to who knew where.  Probably to this new person of his.

Edd blinked, frozen in place, tears still falling as his mind tried to comprehend his next course of action.

_‘...Go inside Eddward. You have chores. Homework. Planning for your parents arrival. You have a schedule to adhere to, more important things to concern yourself with.’_

With an absent nod to himself, Edd finished unlocking his door and traveled inside, plopping his shoulder bag down on the floor in the entryway carelessly.

 _‘A snack to give yourself energy before your chores. That will take your mind off of things.’_ He reasoned to himself as he headed straight for the kitchen. Freezing when he saw a single sticky note clung to the freezer door.

He froze, subconsciously peaking around the room before inching closer. One of his parents, surly his mother as she was the only one of the pair in town currently, had managed to stop by while he was away. He picked the note up, eying it with a cynical fascination, already knowing what it had to say before reading the words of his mother’s delicate cursive writing.

**[Dearest Eddward,**

**I regret to inform you that due to unforeseen circumstances—]**

He crumpled the small square into ball with one hand, a flash of anger overwhelming him as he slammed it in to the garbage.

“Of course she cancelled! When _don’t_ wonderful, ever considerate parents find the time to be completely inconsiderate to my wants and needs?” Edd cried out in rage, ignoring the trash can tumbling over from the unusual amount of abuse it withstood from a well placed kick to its side.

“I am clearly not more important to them then their chosen profession and clearly not deserving OF THEIR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION FOR LONGER THAN A STUPID STICKY NOTE!” Edd screamed loudly, balling his fists at his sides.

 _‘Calm yourself Eddward. Calm yourself.’_ He flexed his fingers, taking in deep breaths as his eyes began to water again, his rage slowly dissipating into that of despair.

 _‘Everything will be alright. You must regain your composure. It will all be fine.’_   He lies to himself as he walked the short distance to his living room, plopping down on the couch.

 _‘You don’t need them, Eddward. They’ve just barely been in your life as of late and you have managed fine without them.’_ He picked up a random throw pillow and squeezed it to his chest, his vision blurry now through his tears.

_‘Or maybe they just don’t like being a part of your life. Like Jason. Maybe it’s just. . . **you**.’_

It was that lingering thought that brought out a strangled cry of despair from Edd that echoed through the eerily silent home. He buried his face in the throw pillow as he fell onto his side with wrenching sobs, no longer having the desire for adherence to his daily schedule.

 

* * *

 

Edd mumbled incoherently as he shifted on the couch, still clutching the small throw pillow, as he clawed his way back to the land of consciousness.

He blinked, once, twice, then yawned as he finally loosened his grip on the pillow and allowed his body to stretch out.He felt a twinge of a headache forming and made a note to take a couple of aspirin soon when he noticed the light blanket in the process of falling to the floor from his movements.

He looked at it quizzical, recalling the last several turbulent minutes of his day before he had fallen asleep.He most certainly had not gotten himself a blanket. His head snapped toward the kitchen when he heard the soft click of glass cup meeting marble top and the familiar sound of a pen scribbling on paper.

Someone was in his home. 

He checked his watch, noting the time of 8:30p.m. and with apprehension, made his way to the kitchen, slowing down and cautiously peaking around the corner once he’d gotten there.

He blinked, unable to comprehend the scene before him for a few precious moments before a sense of surprise and swelling jubilation overtook his senses, tears once again besieging his eyes.

“Father?”

The dark haired, middle aged man sitting at the kitchen counter looked up sharply, startled for a moment, before smiling brightly at his son and putting his pen down. 

He adjusted his glasses that had slipped down his face from the sudden movement then began moving his hands rapidly to speak a greeting to his son, getting to his feet and making his way over swiftly.In the blink of an eye, Edd was given a proper handshake then pulled into an engulfing hug.

Edd returned it as he buried his face in his father’s chest, reveling in the warmth of his embrace and trying and failing to fight the surging clash of various emotions.

He let his tears come freely, his sobs muffled by his fathers’ causal button up polo, as he made no effort to release the elder Vincent, whom in turn made no move to remove his son.He simply rubbed small circles in his back and patted Edd gently, waiting for him to calm himself and explain, if need be, the cause of such an emotional outburst.

That time came minutes later, when Edd finally pulled himself away and gave his father an apologetic smile as Mr. Vincent pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to him.

He waited for Edd to blow his nose and wipe his eyes, clearing his throat to get Edd’s full attention, than began signing to him again, to ask him if he was okay.

Edd nodded and responded in kind, waving the handkerchief as he went:

 _/ I am just fine now, father, thank you for asking! /_ he lied, the aching he felt at the mere thought of his ex ebbing away at him as he spoke. _/ I apologize for my abrupt outpouring of emotion.I have had a...tiring day. /_

He paused to look around the kitchen and realized his father had picked up the trash can and had otherwise done his evening chores.Embarrassed, he added

_/ I would like to also give my sincerest apologies for the state of disarray I left our homestead in. That was not my attention upon my arrival home. /_

His father shook his head vigorously, continuing to smile as he responded

_/ There is no need for such a thing!You do such a fine job in your housekeeping, that while surprising to find, there was a minuscule mess to clean up!It was no trouble, though, /_

That smile faltered as he tilted his head to the side with a thoughtful expression and quickly added

_/ May I inquire as to what gave you such a troubling time today?Would you like to address any issues that you may have while I prepare our meal? /_

_/ It was nothing of great importance, just something of an emotional setback. /_ Edd confided as he took a seat on the stool by the counter. 

Mr. Vincent paused, the twinges of a worried frown touching the corners of his lips as his face fell into a look of contrition.

_/ I am afraid it is I who must apologize Eddward.It is clear to me that our constant removal from your life, despite your previous claims to the contrary, have been having a negative impact on your person.I fear that we have unintentionally lead you down the path to an emotional quandary.If you would, I would like to discuss things, as to further avoid this developing quagmire. /_

Edd watched him in awe, his hands trembling lightly. Once he was done flexing them about while calming himself, as not to give an unintentional mixed message, he signed back

_/ Your fears are unwarranted father.I simply have a few stresses over my academics and forthcoming senior year, is all. Though if you insist on having this discussion, may I implore you to have such at a later date, preferably when Mother is allowed to give her input? /_

From the thoughtful look on his father’s face, he was uncertain if he simply did not believe what he was being told, or if he did believe him, but assumed there was more to it then simple concerns over his schooling and stalls for an long overdue conversation.However, the elder Vincent chose, for now, not to press the issue as with a simple nod and sign of agreement, he turned to begin his cooking, turning the knob to light the stove.

Edd gave a small, quiet sigh of relief.While he did have his misgivings about his parents unintentional neglectful behavior—they worked, he understood that, but still—he was being honest when he said he would rather have the talk later.Truthfully, he was in no emotional state to deal with such a thing right now; it was taking all of his energy not to fall into a heap and sob over his recent loss.He was, instead, focusing said energy on having a semblance of a normal facade around the unexpected appearance of his father.

He idly looked across the counter top, eyes settling over what his father had been writing and realized it was a singular sticky note he had no doubt been planning to post on the refrigerator, the partially written sentence instructing Edd not to bother with his morning chores tomorrow.

He looked over at his father who had his backed fully turned to him now as he began preparing what looked to be a stir fry dish.

“I beg your pardon Father, and forgive me if this sounds a little rude but...what are you doing here?Mother informed me that neither of you would be home at a reasonable time for the next up coming weeks, and I strictly remember that you were suppose to be out of town at the moment.”

His father turned just enough for Edd to see the sly, prideful smile that graced his features before he turned around fully and began to sign with animated excitement.

 _/ I may have told your mother a little white lie, /_   he began, giddy over his blatant deceit and Edd gasped in shock. 

_/ Father!You lied to mother? For shame! /_

His parents tended not to lie, nor did they encourage him to do so...though he did at times where convenient.His father gestured for him to calm down, explaining

_/ It was only to surprise you both: I was able to finish all of my work within an earlier than expected time frame and my next patient isn’t due to be seen until Wednesday, so I left a day early as to be spend this allotted time with you and your mother!I shall not have to depart until early Wednesday morning! /_

Clapping his hands together once loudly to signify his success—and making Edd jump a little in response—Mr. Vincent made his way to the cabinet to grab the noodles and various oils he needed for the dish.

Edd watched him cook in silence, choosing now to simply bask in of the rare occasion of having one of his beloved parents home...and at a time when he most definitely did not wish to be lonely or feel unwanted.Not after the devastating afternoon he’d had. 

His mind began to drift to a certain blue haired slacker, the dismay and distress seeping back in to his subconscious before it snapped away when something red caught his eye in his peripheral.

His eyes darted to look out of the kitchen window, instantly making him think of a certain red haired jock, the disappointment and touch of foolishness setting in once he realized what he saw was simply a taillight and not in fact, Kevin walking along the side of his house in an effort to come sneaking around for a visit with him. 

Unsure of exactly why he would want a thing like that at this time, he attempted to push the thoughts of both individuals out of his mind and focus on the task of casual conversation with his father, thankfully putting to rest some of his lingering doubts and bitter resentment he’d built up towards his parents the longer they spoke.

Despite his best efforts however, or maybe as a subconscious way to coup with and keep his mind off of Jason, he kept finding his thoughts drifting back to Kevin.

' _I wonder what he is doing.’_   He wondered briefly, wrestling with the idea of maybe calling or texting his neighbor later before his father snapped him literally out of his thoughts and signed once again for him to fetch a set of plates and cutlery.

 _‘Perhaps when he—and I—are in a better state.’_   Edd decided as he set the items on the counter and went to fetch a pitcher of iced tea. _‘Kevin is already dealing with his own romantic issues.It would be rude to compound them with my own.’_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One down, one to go...


	7. EndEdd (Part 2)

Kevin pushed the stray baseball laying at the foot of his bed onto the ground, listening to the soft thud it made once it hit the floor before he rolled over on to his back to stare at the ceiling.  It was the late evening now and Nazz had gone home hours ago, leaving him to his thoughts, only to have them interrupted by the arrival of his parents baring gifts of fast food.

During dinner, his mother once again attempted to pry the complete truth of his whereabouts and activities over the weekend from him, but he’d managed to starve her off with the same vague truths laced with little white lies from his explanation that morning.It was just enough to ease his conscious yet still technically tell them what had transpired: he went to a party, got drunk, blacked out, and got too embarrassed and afraid of the punishment to come home immediately.His concerns about what happened during said black out period or the fact that Logan was involved didn’t seem necessary to bring up to them...the last thing he wanted, while trying to put things in perspective at least, was to constantly have to contend with his meddling parents insertions into his private affairs. 

Thankfully, his mother had the late shift tonight, which she was in the process of preparing to leave for.His father would be going to be bed soon, as he would need to make up for taking today off, as well as preparing for the week long seminar he would be attending in the coming weeks.As a result, this would leave Kevin with the relative peace and for the most part, privacy to do so as he saw fit.

So after being sent back to his room, he had been focusing-and staling- on what he would be doing this evening: breaking up with Logan.He was certain now that doing so was the best course of action, but what he was undecided on was the exact method.  Not that he was looking forward to the resulting fallout.Logan could be a real pain when they fought, and this time would likely be no different.Though even he had to admit to himself that there was just something more...resolute and finite in how he felt this time. 

A knock rattled Kevin out of his thoughts and he sat up. 

“Yeah?”

He expected it to be his mother, attempting to lay on her famous brand of industrial-strength ‘mom guilt’ to get him to open up and talk to her before she went to work.Instead, his father peaked his head in with his infamous ‘smile’ that Kevin had aptly dubbed ‘the grizzly bear grimace’.  


The elder Barr had been relatively reserved and quite about this whole affair, letting his wife do most of the leg work up until now.But if he was here and with that look on his face...Kevin kept cool and calm, despite the bouts of dread creeping in to his stomach. This whole affair must have bothered his parents more then even he realized...or they knew more than they were letting on and were ready for the hammer to drop.

“We need to talk, Champ.” His father said affably, though it was an obvious labored attempt at doing so.The seriousness of whatever they had to discuss radiated from his matching green eyes and every few seconds, his jaw clenched despite his attempts at ‘smiling’, a tell-tale sign that he was not to be trifled with.

Kevin sat up as his mind raced, unsure if he would be able to dodge and deflect any undesirable questions he was about to receive.With his mother, he had the luxury of doing so, as her method to pull things out of him was a well crafted mind game.His father had always been more straightforward and tended to force the truth out of him through sheer respect and fear of retribution, which was exactly why his mother only opted to use him if she felt she herself had ran out of options or the situation called for it.Clearly to them, it did.

“Sure thing, Dad.” Kevin mumbled as he reached over to pick up the baseball and toss it back and forth from hand to hand while his father sat backwards in his desk chair.Mr. Barr folded his arms on the back of it as he leaned forward on the hind legs, watching his son get settled before he began.

“Are you ready to tell me what the hell is going on with you and that Logan guy?” He demanded rather than asked with a blunt sternness that confirmed he was in no mood for any games or to be lied to.

“He’s just—" Kevin cut himself short when he caught the hard glare his father was giving him, all traces of any smile gone, forest green eyes clashing as the older, wiser set narrowed into slits. “Before you continue to answer, let me warn you _Champ_ : we did some digging this weekend.Talked to a few of people, including some of your friends, and looked into some things.”  Kevin absently nodded to himself, cutting a side glance to no one in particular while lightly sucking on his teeth, leg already beginning to nervously bob up and down as he held on tightly to his baseball with both hands.  He already knew Nazz hadn't ratted him out, so then who...

“I’ve always trusted you to be honest and open with us, and I’m asking you to do it now.So tell me: what is going on between you and Logan.”

There was a moment of silence, the tension suffocating and thick blanketing the room before,“He’s my boyfriend.” Kevin admitted quickly, forfeiting any further attempts at lying...and feeling a giant wave of unexpected relief wash over him. 

Mr. Barr let out a breath of relief, the clear signs of gratitude etched on his features for a precious, fleeting moment that made Kevin relax just as long.  It was clear that he thought Kevin was going to be stubborn and make getting the answers he needed difficult, however, he was not quite ready to completely lightened up on him yet.

“How long have you two been dating.” He demanded.

“A while, I guess.” Kevin tried, foolishly testing the waters.Mr. Barr was not amused, his face hardening again instantly.

“Cut the bull, Kevin!” He boomed, making his son flinch a little. No nickname. Not a good sign.“How long is ‘a while’!”

Kevin squirmed uncomfortably.“Since, uh,” he licked his lips, saying the next two words in a quieter tone “freshman year.”

Kevin could practically _feel_ his father’s brain waves as he did the math, Mr. Barr’s eyes widening the more it all came together and his face began to redden but his demeanor otherwise did not change and he said nothing.  Kevin took the opportunity to try and sweeten things over.  “He didn’t trick me or nothing Dad, I swear!I wanted to go out with him and he waited til I got older before we did anything!"

"Like what?!"

Kevin felt his face heating up as he looked at the ceiling, mentally kicking himself for blurting that out. "I mean...you know...look,  h-we aren’t even gonna be dating anymore, so there’s no need to get upset about it!”

The two redheads remained silent for the next few agonizing minutes, Kevin staring down at his hands idly while Mr. Barr stared at him contemplatively, preparing for his next maneuver.  It was clear that things may be getting...complicated, so it would be best to perhaps steer himself more towards ‘supportive Dad’ instead of sticking down the path towards ‘fire and brim stone.

“So is that why you didn't tell us about you two dating?"

". . .Yeah."

"And you don't think he took advantage of your age, even a little?"

"No?  I mean, we were both in high school when we started dating, I don't see what the big deal is, Dad." 

"He's well over eighteen _now_ , Kevin." His father stated sternly. "He's got to be a legal adult now, and you won't be eighteen for a few months.  That's a _problem_."

"I know Dad, but we're not dating anymore so..." Kevin palmed his baseball as he fidgeted around nervously.

"Look, it's not just the age difference that's the problem but more about what comes with it.  He's older and may have more experience in this dating thing than you do and did back then.  I'm just concerned he used that against you!  Like making you do or agree to anything you normally wouldn't because you didn't know any better or were too immature n' bullheaded to make the right decisions." His father stated thoughtfully.  "You know, peer pressure but worse cause you make out with this guy."

Mr. Barr gave Kevin an under-eyed look.  "Because you too didn't do anything else back then, _right_?"

"Nope!" Kevin lied quickly, desperately wanting to change the tone of the conversation.  "It was just normal dating stuff!"

"Good."

There was an awkward silence between the two before Kevin spoke up again, in a low voice.  "You're right."

"Hm?"

"About the age thing.  It's why I think I broke up with him." Kevin then added with a shrug.  "I mean, other than him being a straight asshole."

Mr. Barr thoughtfully pursed his lips as he contemplated what was said.“That’ll do it.”

Kevin sighed and let himself fall back on his bed, staring at the ceiling again while still clutching the ball in his left hand.  “lt’s sorta hard to explain, but it’s, he’s...it’s hard to put into words.I like him, or I did, but he just does all this junk and it’s really not cool.  He tries using the fact that I’m younger than him against me, and thinks I’m too dumb to catch it or somethin.”Kevin frowned deeply the more he complained.“He hates all my friends and wouldn't hang out with them if we were together.  Even messed up things with me and Nazz for a while.  He gets jealous over the dumbest crap.  We fight most of the time and somehow, it's always my fault.  Like I was being irrational, or stubborn, or whatever he always says and he never does anything wrong.  He hates football-"

“Hates foo— _how_ the hell did you date him that long?” His father gawked in amazement, pausing in his beard stroking, hoping to interject some humor into the conversation and help his son be further at eased.  It worked, as Kevin couldn’t help but snort a little, finally looking his way.

“Dumb I guess.” He admitted, feeling it to be true.

His father shook his head.  "Liking someone doesn't make you stupid, Champ.  Anyone will give someone more chances when they care about them, even if they don't deserve them.  When you realize that's the case, it's having the strength to do the right thing for yourself that's the hard part."  He offered his son a comforting, confident smile that mirrored his own when the occasion presented itself.  "You did and I'm proud of you.  More importantly, I don't have to listen to you mother bitch about him every other day!"

Kevin snorted and his father chuckled. “So you and Ma already had an idea, huh? About me and Logan? I brought him by a few times, and you guys would flip out.”

“Of course she flipped out, it’s what she does.I just do it in solidarity,” Mr. Barr joked.“Well that and we’d have to be blind not to realize something was going on between you two.The weird looks during that one dinner, the gestures, and the little smart ass innuendos he kept up like we wouldn’t catch on.”  Kevin looked a little embarrassed as his father gave him a pointed glare.“You wouldn’t comp up to anything though, and it made us think something more might be wrong.Like he was keeping you from telling us things or had you in real bad situation.So it made us weary of him, and after everything you just told me, I still am.”

Kevin nodded slowly and his Dad drummed his fingertips on the back of the chair as he continued.“Your mother’s not gonna be too happy to find out she was right about you dating, though you breaking things off with him might calm her a bit.”

He gave Kevin another under-eyed glare.“You’re not just telling me that, are you?You’re ending it?”

“Yeah Dad.”

“Good,” he said firmly, getting to his feet and stretching a bit before pushing the chair in.“If he’s got you sneaking off to wild parties where you get drunk and lord knows what else happened, he’s not someone you want to be with.”

Mr. Barr paused and studying Kevin closely as he asked “Nothing else happened, right?You just got drunk and went to sleep?That’s it?Nothing else you want to tell me?”

Kevin worked double time to kept his composure and the aloof expression he always maintained.“Yeah Dad.Just got wasted and blacked out.I didn’t do anything else.”

“...I wasn’t just referring to you, son.”

Silence.

"What about all those bumps and bruises you have."

“Bunch of guys hanging out and drinking?  Come on, Dad.  Besides, you know how angry I can get.  I got into a fight but everything was fine after that. ”  Kevin boldly lied.  


"Is that why you blacked out?"

"No.  I partied some more after the fight before that happened."

"And that's all?"

"That's all."

_‘Slow, steady breaths.Keep composure.Don’t let him see you sweat.’_

Mr. Barr stared at Kevin a few moments longer and though Kevin was unsure whether he believed him or not, to his relief, he didn’t press him.

“Alright then.Just lay low for the next week and I’m sure your mother will ease up on the punishment, kiddo.”His father smiled, genuinely, finally.Kevin let out a sigh of relief as his father made his way across the room, departing for the door.  “Get some sleep!You have school tomorrow and your Mom’s dropping you off first thing in the morning!”

Kevin balked.“I can drive!”

“Her orders, not mine.Part of the punishment for not coming home or telling us where you went,” his father replied causally, his smile taunting now while watching the grumpy pout that graces his son’s face before he walked out and shut the door behind him.He pivoted on his heel and almost walked smack into his wife, who stood waiting anxiously with folded arms.

“Well?”

“Logan’s his ex, he only got drunk, then got into a fight, and went to sleep.  Still don’t think that’s all of it but I’m not gonna push him anymore right now.”Mr. Barr informed his wife diligently.

Grumbling to herself, she made a move to go into her son’s room but was caught by her shoulders and spun around towards their own bedroom.

“Franklin—!”

“No amount of trying to force it out of him is going to make him talk, you know that.” He said in a quiet, smooth tone as he guided her into their bedroom and shut the door.“He’s as stubborn as you are.When he’s ready to talk to us, he will Lin.Just give him some time.”

She narrowed her eyes at him furiously but went to the master bathroom to finish preparing for work, leaving the door open to talk.

“I just don’t understand why he won't talk to us about this.” she sighed remorsefully.“We can’t do anything if he won’t admit to it and tell us everything that happened!”

“Maybe he doesn't want us to do anything.  Kevin is getting older and he always liked handling things on his own.  Like I said: he's as stubborn as you."

“You saw him when he got home!” She stewed, proving his assertion about her stubbornness correct.“All those scrapes and bruises, _something_ happened!”

“I told you, Lin. He said he got into a fight." Mr. Barr announced simply.

She leaned back to give him a critical look of disbelief with a finely arched eyebrow. "Really, Frank."

He shrugged.  "Look, they’re boys, it happens. I can see why he wouldn’t want to admit to that so fast.”

She finished applying her mascara and fastening the tube, sat it down on her make up tray before checking herself.

“I was right about Logan then, I’m right about this now.Something else happened.Something that he doesn’t want to talk about or is afraid to tell us.”

“Then we let him tell do it on his own time.  Pushing him won’t help.” Frank insisted.“He needs to know we’re in his corner and ready when he needs us, but he has to want to first.I was right about it when you insisted I talk to him a few minutes ago, I’m right about it now.”

She flicked off the bathroom light and strolled into the room, glaring at the middle aged man for the verbal call back before grabbing her windbreak and purse.

“I just hope he means what he said about him being his ex.That boy is just all wrong for Kevin.” She mused, slinging the tot over her shoulder.Mr. Barr hummed in agreement as she leaned over kissed him before heading for the door.

“See you tomorrow morning, dear!Keep an eye on him while I’m gone!  Call me if-”

“ _Lin. . ._ ”

“-he tries to sneak out!” She insisted and with that, left the room, finding herself pausing in front of Kevin’s door instead of immediately going downstairs to grab her car keys and leave. 

She knocked lightly.“Honey?I’m headed to work.I’ll see you in the morning first thing, so be ready to go to school!”

There was a long pause before he finally answered, just as she was about to knock again.“Sure thing, Ma!”

“Love you, sweetheart!Goodnight!”

“Night!”

Kevin waited for the footfalls to lead away from his door before he looked back down at his cellphone.  He felt horrible for doing it this way.They’d been dating for so long and Logan was definitely worth more than a two sentence text to him, even now.  The problem with doing such a thing in person or even over the phone with Logan was that the brunette believed his soon-to-be ex was pliant to his wills and reasoning.  Rightfully so, now that Kevin thought about it: this wasn’t the first time he’d attempted to break things off with Logan, only to allow the good looking frat back into his life in a matter of days.He needed time to really commit to the idea and stick with it without Logan being able to easily talk or do anything _else_ to worm his way back into his life.  So as impersonal, cold, and even cruel as it was, no matter how much he didn’t want to do it this way...he knew it needed to be done. 

Besides, he was kinda over the whole thing and really just wanted to relax after such a long, arguably crappy day.

_‘...Except for hanging out with Edd.That was nice.’_

His thoughts lingered on the dark haired dork across the street before he realized he was getting distracted and with a deep breath, he read over his words again:

> **It’s over.Sorry.**

and pressed send, tossing the cell on his bed and laying next to it once he was finished.

Maybe he could try playing a video game?No, not in the mood.Homework? Yeah, right. Working on his bike?No, he should have done it when he had better lighting...

He looked back over at the cellphone and thought about the part of his day he enjoyed, or rather who made it enjoyable.

With a sigh, he abandoned the idea and got up to go get a bottle of water.

_‘I shouldn’t bother him.I’ve done that enough today.’_

 

* * *

 

He stared at those three words, so brazen in their audacity, that lit up the screen of his cellphone. 

Without warning, Logan laughed, full bodied, tipping his head back as he tossed the small device on the coffee table and set out towards the kitchen.  Honestly, he was surprised he hadn’t gotten the text or something like it sooner.Not that he was worried in the slightest; this wasn’t the first time Kevin had gotten so angry with him that he had threatened or gone through with breaking up with him. It was practically mundane to him now.

He searched his refrigerator for a carton of orange juice, his laughter finally calming down as he took hold of the almost empty container and searched for a glass.

 _‘How long should I give him this time?’_ he pondered with disinterest as he poured the liquid into a tall glass, having just enough for it to reach an inch from the rim before he threw the carton in his waste basket. _‘A couples hours?A few days?’_

He leaned on the black marble kitchen counter top, looking around his apartment as he took a long sip of his beverage.He made notes mentally of what he would have to do to properly put it back together. He could have done it yesterday, but he wanted some time to recuperate and had, at that time, Kevin to contend with.  At the thought of the redhead, his eyes fell over a picture of the two of them on his bookshelf.It was the one from their first official dates, when he’d taken Kevin to the World Series with him.A belated birthday gift from his father that he’d used to help snag the younger teen in the first place.The dates and times had only gotten better since, minus a few snags.

Like now.

He made his way back to his loveseat and sat down, leaning his head off the back of it as he sighed. 

He wouldn’t say he regretted Saturday night per say. Far from it actually.His actions had been deliberate, if not a little poorly thought out, but he'd still gotten what he wanted despite Kevin's initial refusal.  Besides, he hadn't exactly said _no_ -he was too drunk to-and even enjoyed himself once things really got started.   Even if Kevin had been able to better recall the events of the night, he had been prepared to deal with ensuing fallout, within reason of course.  This, as far as he was concerned, far from being reasonable, even if it was expected of his little firecracker at this point. Granted, they'd gotten into their fair share of tiffs before and he was used to Kevin blowing things out of proportion. 

The brunette lifted his head just enough to glance at the phone screen again, his smug sneer on the verge of blossoming into a full blown smile of ridicule as he thought of how the redhead was acting.

Honestly, of all the reasons Kevin could use to overreact and break up with him...a bout of drunken birthday sex?  Sometimes he had to wonder why he even bothered.  He turned the phone over in his hands, contemplating his relationship, already knowing he wouldn't be letting this go without a fight.  Doing that would be him giving up, and he never gave up on anything, especially things he wanted or had put this much time and effort into.  While the redhead's stubbornness could be annoying, it was also one of the biggest allures of dating him.  The redhead proved time and again to be a challenge, and he couldn't help but see their little spats like a game, always getting a rush of triumph when he succeeded in making Kevin come around, conquering him little by little and chipping away that resolve of his.  It's how they got together, it's how they stayed together, and it was how he dominated their relationship.  This time would be no different. 

He sat up, ignoring the groans of his back muscles as they popped softly, and snatched the phone up off the table.He could try calling again, but Kevin was refusing to answer his calls or respond via text, save the one he'd just received.If he was this upset with him, trying to reason with him right now would be impossible.  So he’d have to play this by ear.With a roll of his eyes and a scoff, he quickly texted back his response:

> **Fine, Red.See you in a week.**

then sat the phone back down and went to grab a cleaning rag and disinfect, already contemplating the perfect things he would say and do once Kevin was done throwing his temper tantrum.  Things would smooth over, Kevin would realize he was acting foolish, and the two of them would move on, gaining him yet another victory in their so-called 'tug of war' and a smidgen more control.  

Just like always.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This marks the end of what started off as a prologue-yes really-that just kinda ballooned out of control into several chapters. I didn't want the pacing to be too fast and start putting Kevin and Edd together without putting in the groundwork to show how each got to their respective points before the bonding truly begins. Which, for me, is the fun part and honestly, what I have been waiting for! I had to sneak in little instances before because I couldn't wait (and wanted to show that there was a natural attraction between the two).
> 
> I hope you all have enjoyed things so far and thank you all so much for bearing with me through these first few chapters! Thanks for all the love and commentary too! I'll update again ASAP!


End file.
